Conflicted Souls
by turtlequeen2
Summary: AR: Kikyou and Naraku have two things in common that not many people know. The first would be that they had previously been human and together in their previous lives. The second would be how conflicted their souls have gotten since then. :KikyouNaraku:
1. Prologue: The Forbidden Romance

**Disclaimer:**

Turtlequeen2: For the first time in a while, I have returned with another one of my many brain children!

Kikyou: And we should rejoice, why?

Turtlequeen2: Relax! This is the first time that I write you more than anyone else! …Hopefully I don't screw it up.

Kikyou: Somehow I feel even less relaxed than before…

Turtlequeen2: I will attempt what no one has ever tried before. I have dared to make an alternate reality in which Kikyou knew Onigumo before he was pushed off of that cliff and half burned to death! In that fashion, there is more backdrop to why many things are the way they are.

Kikyou: Turtlequeen2 does not own any character from the Inuyasha series. The respected, Rumiko Takahashi, has that honor.

**WARNING**: THERE IS A LIME BELOW! (Lime would mean fan fiction with lightly detailed sexual content)

* * *

**Prologue **

**The Forbidden Romance of Long Ago**

* * *

Why?

_Why?_

Why did she return to his embrace after all of this time? Why did she continue with this taboo? She knew it was wrong for them to be together, but she was too blinded by love to give much thought to her actions.

This one word, "why," flashed through her mind many times during their numerous escapades.

The dark of the night barely showed the two beings melting into one another. Black tresses intermingled and their hot, erratic breath fanned each other's faces. Skin touching fevered skin, mingling together in the frantic-like pace of an allegro.

Why did she writhe at his touch? Why did she enjoy laying beneath him? Why did she love their passionate nights under the moonlight? Why did she take pleasure in their forbidden romance, driven by lust and sin?

Most importantly, _why_ did she love this man, who was supposed to be her sworn _enemy_?

--

A long time before the fabled Inuyasha-Tachi was formed—even before Naraku's formation—the Sengoku Jidai played by a different rhythm. After the Great Midoriko-sama's last battle, the cursed Shikon no Tama was formed, thus causing new chaos to form between humans and youkai all over the Japanese countryside. The powerful beast Midoriko battled was now imprisoned alongside her soul within the Jewel, but the war between the demons and humans was just reaching its peak. Daily raids occurred upon many villages, regardless of whom was attacking them.

These pillagers could have been merciless youkai or other inhuman beasts. There was also the possibility of them being humans like the rest of the victims. The only exception is that these robbing humans were known to be ruthless and sometimes worse than demons. They came to be known as bandits. On top of all of this, the Japanese government was being reformed, causing many uprisings to occur. Since all of this violence took place during this time, the period was given the name, "The Era of the Warring States."

Our story begins at the early years of this time period…

* * *

**54 Years Before Inuyasha-Tachi Period**

* * *

Cold brown eyes narrowed at the target before her. Her long black hair, pulled back by a white ribbon, blew about her lithe form. Two lone strands of her tresses hung below both sides of her ears. Her priestess outfit consisting of a white haori and red hakama, flowed around her body in the strong wind. Her worn out zouri were planted firmly on the dirt path.

She quickly drew back her bow string with the arrow on it. She concentrated her energy and finally released the arrow with fast precision, the tip of the arrowhead surrounded in purifying pink light as it sailed towards a youkai flying overhead. When the arrow hit, the demon gave a piercing shriek before disintegrating into dust. It was the fifth demon she spotted flying overhead the village she was entrusted to protect.

"Kikyou-onee-sama!" came the sudden shout of a young child, running up to the miko. "That was amazing!"

The woman, now known as Kikyou, looked down at her younger sister, smiling kindly. "Thank you, Kaede," she replied warmly. "One must be strong if they are to protect."

Kaede nodded, taking in the statement said by the younger woman she admired. The child was hardly at the age of maturity. She was only nine years old at the time. Her hair was pulled back in the similar fashion as her sister's. Her eyes were a sparkly, deep brown color. She wore a simple tan yukata with plain wooden sandals on her feet.

"I hope that I can be as good as you some day!" the girl exclaimed in a smile.

Kikyou gave a small laugh. Sometimes Kaede amused a part of her at how she admonished her, but at most other times, another part of her felt sad. It was saddening because it meant that even her sister could not treat her like a normal human being. Then again, she was not one in a sense. She was a powerful miko and the protectoress of the village. She could not do things that a normal woman did at her age. She had not the time nor the luxury to do so.

Kikyou always put on a calm face and a small smile in front of her peers. However, her eyes never sparkled. Her eyes always gave off sorrow. One weakness given off by her would cost her life and the lives of countless others. She was born pure and could never become tainted by love or any other worldly sin.

The miko looked down at her sister and gave her a small affectionate pat on the head. "Why don't you go back to the hut and wait for me there? I'll be home after I gather a few herbs."

"All right!" Kaede replied, running off towards the direction of their hut.

Kikyou smiled at the actions of her little sister. After she was sure that she was alone, she left for the fields. The reason she wanted to be alone was to have time to think by herself.

She breathed in deep once she arrived at the fields full of plants and flowers. She grinned slightly as she bent down to pick one of the herbs. She let her bow drop onto the grass next to her.

However, her moment of peace was but a limited one. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed and her body stiffened up. She sensed someone or some_thing _watching her.

"Come out of hiding! This is my only warning!" she stated, grabbing a hold of her bow.

Right after she said this, a carrion crow-youkai flew out of the nearest tree, headed straight towards her! She swiftly plucked an arrow into her bow and released it. The purifying light surrounded the arrow tip as it hit the demon. Er…it was more like, as the arrow sliced through the side of the bird, injuring it enough to destroy it.

However, after killing the youkai, the arrow kept sailing through the field since the attack was not a direct hit. It seemed like she over-estimated her aiming ability.

"Damn it!" she murmured to herself. She may have been the best archer in the land, but she was not perfect.

To her horror, a shout of pain was heard from far off. The miko realized that her arrow must have hit someone and her eyes widened slightly in alarm. She immediately took to running in the direction of the voice.

Once she arrived at the site, she saw a man clutching at his shoulder. His breathing was ragged. Blood was dripping onto the hand he was using to hold his injury. The arrow was still embedded in it. His clothing his was in tatters. Kikyou was sure that the ripped clothing had something to do with what happened before he came within Musashi's Domain.

"Oh, Kami-sama! Please, forgive me!" she shouted in a panic. This never happened to her before! Why had her arrow been this off track?!

"You…shot this arrow…?" he managed to rasp out between clenched teeth.

She nodded her head and rushed over towards him. "Please allow me to help you! I wish to atone to what damage I have caused!" she pleaded with a slightly bowed head in guilt.

"Hmm…so…you're a _miko_?" he asked once he got a good look at her and noticed her attire.

"Yes," she replied faintly. "I know that what I did was inexcusable as such."

He let out a small laugh. "You're foolish, Miko. Do you…know what…I am? If you help me…you'd be helping…your enemy…"

"'_Enemy_'?" she echoed in confusion. His clothes were tattered beyond recognition so she would have not been able to tell even if she wanted to know. She had not the faintest clue of what he was talking about.

"You must…be a very…innocent maiden…" he chuckled, the amusement clearly sketched on his face even through his grimace.

"What nonsense are you speaking of?" she demanded, beginning to get irate because she did not understand what he was trying to tell her.

Unfortunately, he did not get a chance to respond because he passed out on the ground from exhaustion and blood loss.

Kikyou let out a small gasp of surprise. "Oh, no! He's dying!" she exclaimed. It did not matter to her if she did not know who he was. All she knew was that she was indebted to him and that she needed to get him help before he died.

* * *

**Several Days Later**

* * *

Dark, coal-colored eyes were revealed as the man awoke once more. He turned his head to find himself inside a small hut of some kind. A small groan escaped his lips as a sudden wave of pain hit him in his shoulder and head.

He looked down to find his body under covers. _'Where am I?' _he wondered to himself.

The man then heard a bamboo flap open up. It showed him the familiar face he saw only yesterday. A small scowl crossed his face at the sight of her. _'That wench again? She really was serious when she said she wanted to tend to my wounds! Doesn't she know what I am?' _

"I see that you are finally awake," she commented with a slight smile, not even taking notice to his facial expression. In her hands were a pail of water, a small bowl of medicinal herbs, and a cloth.

She bent on her knees before him, pulling back the covers. She turned her head towards the flap. "Kaede, you may come in now. I require the wraps for this man's injuries. You needn't be frightened," she called out.

Hesitantly, her younger sibling pulled back the flap and came into the hut.

"Please hand me a few of those wraps, Kaede," Kikyou instructed in a gentle tone.

"Yes, onee-sama," Kaede said, obediently doing what she was told.

"Thank you," the elder miko replied. She took the dressing and pulled back the covers.

The man looked down at his body and saw that he was bandaged up. _'This wench is very persistent…' _he observed, staring back up at her as she began to apply the herbs to his skin.

He clenched his teeth from the sudden burning sensation he felt caused by the herbs being placed on his wounds.

Kikyou saw the grimace on his face and murmured, "My apologies. The pain will be but for a moment."

After a half-hour, she was finally able to get his injuries dressed. Kaede had to help hold him down since he kept squirming from the pain.

Soon after, Kaede announced, "I'll go retrieve more herbs for you, onee-sama!" She promptly exited the hut once she saw her sister nod at her.

The miko turned back to the injured man and gave him a small smile. "So, are you feeling better?"

In response, he gave a small groan. He then forced himself to form words in order to speak. "You…Miko…" he then called out.

"Yes?" she inquired.

"Why did…you help me..?" he demanded in a rasp.

A small frown formed on her face. "This again?" she sighed. Before he had a chance to reply, she continued. "Like I've said before: it is my duty as a miko to help those in need. I also need to atone to what injuries I have inflicted upon you."

He nodded, trying to let her words sink in. He then gave a small laugh. "Miko, surely…you know that…these wounds weren't just…caused by you…alone…"

"I am aware of that, sir," she responded sagely. "I was going to ask you about them once you had woken up. Would you mind telling me, nevertheless?"

He took in a deep, shaky breath. He thought that it would eventually come down to this. He had a hunch that once she found out what he was, that she would throw him out into the street and possibly even try to kill him. "The other bandits in my clan cast me out," he bit out, a small glimmer of fury shining in his eyes as he said those words. "They inflicted these wounds upon me and left me to die out there in the forest."

He shut his eyes, waiting for a scream or another type of reaction that he half-expected.

Kikyou's eyes widened slightly. Did that mean…?! "You're a bandit!" she half-exclaimed in shock.

He opened his eyes and nodded. _'Technically, I __**used**__ to be one…' _he thought to himself.

"Wait…" she gasped. "I should have known from the brand on your back…"she thought out loud. "And you just said that you had your own clan…" Her eyes widened again. "Tell me, you wouldn't happen to be _Onigumo_, would you?"

He gave a bitter smile. "So, you…_have _heard…of me…"

"How could I not have?" she replied. "You're known as one of the most ruthless bandit leaders on the countryside!"

"_Used_ to be known as…you mean…" he corrected. He looked at her overall facial expression and was quite surprised. She wore a mask of astonishment. She knew these things about him and yet had not done anything to harm him yet!

Another moment of awkward silence passed by the pair until the man now known as Onigumo decided to bring up the matter. "Miko, why…have you not…done anything…to harm me yet?" he demanded in a tone of frustration.

Kikyou raised her eyebrow. "You expect me to throw an injured man out onto the road?"

His eyes widened in the slightest bit. "Do you…take me to be a…fool…?" he nearly all but snarled.

She shook her head. "No, Onigumo," she replied. "I know that you are a very clever man. Underestimating you would be a mistake."

"Oh…?" he trailed off in a calmer voice of curiosity.

"I am not as cold as to put a miserable man out into the ruthless night when he is wounded," she explained.

He let out another guffaw. His eyes glimmered with amusement. "What is…your name…Miko?" he then asked.

"…Kikyou," she said with uncertainty underlining her voice. She was unsure whether or not to tell him.

"You are…foolish…_Kikyou_…" he stated in a smirk.

Her eyes narrowed slightly out of annoyance. "You wanted my name just so you could insult me?" she demanded in irritation.

"No…" he began. "However, you _are _one…for wanting…to still help me…"

"I desire to help you to become healthy for the purpose of you not having to suffer a pathetic death in the woods. You should know that the youkai would easily take your life because you possess a strong smell of blood," she stated coldly, defending herself.

He only replied with a chuckle of amusement. The girl was an entertaining sight to behold.

"What's so funny now?" she demanded.

"You may be foolish…but you are…amusing…" he admitted. "To think that…a miko…would care for…me…" He let out another laugh.

"I do not care for you," she spat back in anger and frustration. To think that a bandit was mocking her! "Would you prefer to sleep outside?"

Onigumo only laughed more. "You are not…very convincing…."

Kikyou's eyes narrowed even more so.

"You just told me that you wish to care for me and yet you threaten to throw me out into these so-called 'ruthless woods'?" he explained while chuckling. "Here I thought miko to be honest…"

Kikyou was beginning to lose her patience with the man. People like these made it hard for her to uphold her pure composure. She heaved a large sigh, hoping that it would calm her nerves. "You should get some more rest, nevertheless…" she finally said.

"Yes, that would be most pleasing…" he commented, actually agreeing with her for once.

When he finally closed his eyes for rest, Kikyou let out a subtle sigh of relief. This man would be hard to handle.

* * *

**Several Weeks Later**

* * *

It had been a while since Onigumo had first been taken under Kikyou's care and the villagers were growing curious about who he was when the miko would not let them into her hut for treatments like she had used to.

Kikyou did not want to admit that she was keeping a bandit under her care so to merely tell them that a man with an extremely contagious disease felt more appropriate to say. She did not like deceiving her villagers, but it had to be done or the man would have to risk being murdered.

The weeks were hard on both Onigumo and Kikyou. The two had had numerous fights and times where they could not even stand being next to each other.

The ex-bandit leader had just recently gotten the ability to stand and walk around, but in order to step out of the hut, he had to wear plain kimono like a normal villager would wear. The first time he walked outside, he was blinded by the bright sun flashing in his eyes since he had not seen it in such a long while.

Today, before he had the chance to stroll around the village, Kikyou stopped him. "Onigumo," she murmured, catching his attention.

"Yes, Kikyou-_sama_?" he questioned, mocking her title and causing the woman's eyes to narrow ever slightly.

Trying her best not to grit her teeth, she answered, "So villagers don't question who you are, we should make up a name for you to tell them. A new identity, if you will…"

"'A new identity'?" he echoed in a surprised tone. "And what do you suggest?"

"Kaemon." She smiled in an innocent fashion.

"'Joyful'?" he murmured, his eyes narrowing. "Since when am I joyful?"

To this, Kikyou gave a small laugh. "It's called irony, Onigumo," she explained.

"I don't care if it's amusing to you. I will not take such a idiotic name," the man said in a near growl.

Kikyou still kept her smile in place. "Okay, then…how about…" she trailed off, trying to think up names that would suit him. "Kiyoshi?"

"'Pure'?" he replied, his eyebrow raising slightly. Smirking more to himself, he thought about how amusing it was. Him, who was the leader of a pack of bandits would be called "pure." Giving her a nod, he said, "I like that name. I shall take it."

"Good," she answered. "Now, you are suitable for doing whatever humane activity you please." Before leaving the hut ahead of him, she turned back. "And I mean _good_ activities. I do not want you looting villagers."

Shaking his head at the audacity of the woman, he followed behind her. It was not as if he was well enough to perform major crime in the first place. It still harmed him to stand for long periods of time, not to mention that his torso was still wrapped in dressings. The only reason that Onigumo wanted to be outside was to be away from that small place for as long as possible. He hated to be placed in closed spaces for longer than was needed. Finally realizing that Kikyou was heading the village to perform her normal miko duties, he turned in the other direction and headed towards the river that ran alongside the lands.

"Sir!" one man who had the appearance of a peasant farmer called out.

Whirling around slowly so as not to invoke pain, Onigumo glanced at the man. "What is it that you want?" he asked cautiously.

"Well, I noticed that you walked out of Kikyou-sama's hut and I wanted to know if you were that man that she was tending to for the past few weeks," he explained.

"You sure are a curious man," Onigumo commented. "Despite that, the answer is yes. Kikyou-sama only let me out recently because my illness has been getting better." He really hated being civil with weaklings, but in order to be completely healed, he had to endure Kikyou's care and he knew that she would not tolerate him killing off her villagers.

"Please forgive me for my questionings. My name is Toshiro," the man muttered, bowing his head slightly.

Bowing in the slightest bit, Onigumo replied, "And my name is Kiyoshi. Now if you would excuse me, I am going to rest by the river."

"Yes, sorry again for the intrusion," Toshiro said.

"It is quite alright," the ex-bandit answered, turning to walk to where was planning to go in the first place. When he arrived at the river, he reclined against the grassy bank. With his arms crossed behind his head, he idly watched the clouds pass overhead him and thought about what he was going to do once he was free from the care of the miko wench.

Would he start another group of bandits and resume his previous lifestyle? The prospect seemed promising, but it was mainly because that was all he knew in life. Looting and killing was what he was made to breathe for.

His thoughts went back to Kikyou. The woman was nearly his polar opposite. She was the pure one; protecting her village and killing demons. He, on the other hand, cared only for his own life. He was tainted and cared little of what others thought of him. Maybe that was why he loathed her?

He found his eyes closing and drifted into sleep.

A couple of hours later, a chuckle woke up the slumbering man.

Onigumo's eyes opened to see Kikyou standing above him.

"Of all of the things I would imagine a bandit doing; it was never relaxing by a river," she laughed.

The man's eyes narrowed as he sat up. His pride as a bandit was stung. "And are you saying that I'm weak for doing so?" he demanded.

Her amusement wavered slightly. "No, not at all," she assured him, taking a seat by his side. "I believe that everyone should get some type of peace. Surely, as a bandit, you had the slightest bit of a break?"

He snorted rudely, not at all comfortable with her sitting beside him. "Taking a vacation is unheard of. If we take time off to enjoy our spoils, it's very rare. We are wanderers; never having a home to call ours. We take over lands occasionally, but never have the time to enjoy them. We enjoy just existing and striking fear into the hearts of weak humans…"

Kikyou's lips rose into a smirk. "That is amusing, considering that many youkai consider you all to be the 'weak humans' that you speak of," she pointed out.

"Yeah, well, we've taken out our share of youkai when it's needed to be done," he replied.

"Ah, that would be a nice proof of strength, right?" she responded. Inwardly, she had no idea why she was making conversation with such a person, but his lifestyle made her curious. She did not know how the other half lived. To her, bandits were almost the same as demons.

Onigumo was puzzled on why Kikyou was so talkative all of the sudden. Was she _that_ bored? "So, I'd assume that you'd have many breaks while your villagers worship you?" he asked smugly.

Kikyou's eyes widened slightly. Worship? Was that not the term that she usually wanted to avoid when she thought of the people she protected? It had always been something she thought of. She never desired to be worshiped. She wanted to be a normal woman like the rest of the village women. Steadying her emotional expression, she answered, "I never get any breaks in between tending the sick and protecting this village."

The ex-bandit noticed her emotions being exposed and smirked with new confidence. "What bothers you, miko? You dislike being followed around like a goddess?"

Kikyou huffed. "I would hardly believe myself to be held in that role."

"Really? It's an envious quality, I'd say. I had enjoyed the subjects that I had over the years. The more I had, the more important I felt."

"That's the typical weakness of humans. Many desire the power of a god. I bear no such desire," she replied sternly.

The smirk remained on his face. "Perhaps… but regardless of it being wanted or not, you have it. I'd say that you'd have to betray their trust before anything changes…"

"I would never think to do such a thing," Kikyou replied quickly.

"Then, you are stuck in your situation. Hell, I'd enjoy it if I were you…" he laughed. "Sure, it must be hard protecting a village, but you're always well liked."

Kikyou's eyes narrowed as if remembering a bad memory. "It is not a quality I desire after seeing that my very own sister doesn't treat me as an equal. Similar to you, I had never had the pristine life of a normal human. If I was not training to become a miko, I was tending the sick or watching over my sister. I'm like a porcelain doll that only needs to be pushed so far before shattering," she explained in a hushed tone as if telling a deep, dark secret.

He nodded, beginning to understand what she was meant. He had never experienced "worship" quite as thoroughly as her. It was to be expected that a person always wanted what was on the other side. "As much as I'd like to hear more, I would like to retire to the hut. It is getting cold outside," Onigumo commented, rising up with much difficulty. Kikyou offered her assistance, but he pushed her kindness aside for his own pride.

After the two began to get settled in the hut, an awkward silence settled between the two after learning a bit more about each other. They were so different, but secretly, very alike.

Onigumo debated whether or not to expose his dark past but decided against it at the moment. The last thing he needed was to develop a connection to a miko he would eventually break free from.

* * *

**Several Months Later**

* * *

By the middle of the summer, Onigumo had made a full recovery. As a human, he healed faster than normal. It had more to do with his hard lifestyle fortifying his body than anything else.

The ex-bandit hated to admit it, but he had grown used to his lazy lifestyle. It was very unlike his usual frantic pace, but it was not at all unpleasant. It was worthwhile to live with a bit of peace. It was the first time in his life where he could actually say such words.

And then came Kikyou. He had gotten used to her company, whether or not it was annoying. The more they talked, the more the two discovered how much wit and banter they could exchange. It was beginning to become a game to the two of them.

His dark eyes clouded over until Kikyou walked into the hut, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Kiyoshi," came her fluttery voice.

"What is it?" he demanded in an annoyed tone. He was relaxing just fine until she came in. He was used to his new name and so answered to it on impulse.

"Could you help me carry in herbs from the field?" she asked in a calm manner, beginning to walk out of the hut before even hearing his answer.

He let out an irritated huff of air. "Aren't miko supposed to be polite? You should wait for a response when you ask a question!" Nevertheless, he followed the woman out to the fields. It was not the first time and surely not the last time he would have to do something for her.

Once they had arrived, Kikyou turned to face him. "Onigumo… how do you like it here?" Her tone was hushed as if she was nervous.

Kikyou being nervous? The thought made Onigumo nearly laugh. "Why the sudden question?" he shot back, sounding suspicious.

She gave him a small smile. "It's foolish of me, really." She bent down in the yellow-and-green-patched field to gather a few herbs and placed them within a large reed basket that she brought with her.

"Why? Spit it out, woman!" He really hated it when people were indirect with things.

"Seeing as you are healed from the injuries that were inflicted on you, I wonder where you will go."

"Yes," he murmured, beginning to realize what she was talking about. "I wonder about the same thing."

"I want to know why you have so much trouble making a decision that should be obvious to you by now. I assumed that you'd be ready to go back to your bandit lifestyle with little hesitation…" she commented.

"Perhaps that was my original intention…" he said, picking up herbs and dropping them in the same basket. "But, as much as I hate to admit it, this village's lack of violence has begun to poison me."

"'Poison'?" she laughed. "That is a nice way to word it, I would guess…" Her expression then turned serious. "Onigumo… have you considered staying here?"

A small smirk crossed his face. "I hesitated because I thought that you would have killed me if I thought about it. Usually, a miko would never want a bandit around." He said this in a joking manner.

She wanted to roll her eyes. That again? "As I've told you before, so long as you do not desire that type of life anymore, you are no longer considered a bandit and are, therefore, fit to live a normal life."

The man nodded. "True… you do always say that same drabble over and over." His expression began to lack his amused air. "It makes me wonder if I'll have to become like those boring villagers. That thought scares me…"

"Why?" she pondered. She longed to become like her villagers. They were free to love and express emotions without having to worry about getting killed for doing so.

"I was born to be an outsider. I do not do well with conformity. Not to mention… I cannot promise that I'll stay this meek and mild." He chuckled at her bewildered countenance. "Don't worry. I wouldn't attack your village… They haven't done anything to anger me."

Calming a bit, Kikyou sighed. "I wouldn't ask you to change your personality as it is now. So long as you present yourself as civilized, you will be accepted here."

"Well, that's nice to know even though I've lived here for a while now…" Onigumi laughed. "I'll have to think about it for a while longer. I wouldn't know if you would enjoy my company for longer than necessary." The woman's eyes burned into his own eyes, making his expression falter. It was unlike him. Something was bothering him besides the fact that he was deciding on what his future life would be.

Kikyou picked up on it immediately. "Onigumo," she began, using his true name for the first time in a while. "Why must you make up excuses? From what I can tell, you enjoy it here. Whether or not you want to admit it, you like the life you have gained. This is your second chance at a new start in life and you're considering on throwing it away." She stopped gathering herbs to concentrate solely on him. "Why?"

For the first time in their relationship, he shot her an angry glare. "Nothing gets past you, does it?" he asked in a rhetorical sense. It was as if he were enraged about the fact that she found him out. "Are you sure that you aren't this earnest because you only want my company? I'm the only person that knows about the lonely side of you, Kikyou. We both know this. Are you that desperate for companionship that you'd seek it from even your worst enemies? ...I guess even miko can be selfish."

His words cut through her like a knife. Though, as much as she hated to admit it, some of his words rang true. She longed for someone who was like her; someone who could understand her. Though, he was not what she expected, he was similar to her in many ways. He was the only one who knew her inner struggles. She had foolishly told him some of her darkest thoughts when she knew that he could have used it against her at any given moment. Despite knowing that he was a bandit, Kikyou had placed her trust in him.

Kikyou's head hung low. "Please forgive me, Onigumo. I must look pathetic to you." Looking back up at him, her eyes shown with guilt and shame. It was hard not to reveal emotions to him after he knew so much about her.

"Kikyou…" the man murmured, nearly feeling bad for what he had said. At the same time, however, he knew that he had to tell her. It had been bothering him for quite a while. He knew that Kikyou wanted him to stay because she wanted someone to share her experiences with. His expression softened slightly, showing a side of him that neither of them knew before.

"Forget what I desire of you. Please decide for yourself. However, please also keep in mind that you should choose your path based on what your instincts tell you," she advised.

He was speechless. Why was she being so mellow towards him? Where was her confidence? The sight of her showing her weakness was bothersome. "I hope that you've gathered enough herbs," he said, turning away from her. "I want to go and rest for a while." He left the fields before she could say anything more.

Kikyou watched him leave, not bothering to go after him. What could she do? It was all up to him. Though, when did it get to the point to where she wanted… no, _needed _him to stay with her? Shaking her head, she picked up her herbs and walked herself over to the bank of the river.

She sat down and clutched her knees to her chest. A sitting posture that was unethical for a miko. "I have given refuge to a bandit. Why did I do something so foolish? What was I hoping for?" All of these words were a whisper on her lips. She did not want any villager to hear of her problems, nor find out about "Kiyoshi's" true identity. "I merely helped a man in need. Was that my true intent?"

The woman would have used more of her thinking time if she was not interrupted. "Kikyou-sama!" came a cry from a villager.

A young man ran towards her, causing the miko to quickly rise up and pick up her basket. "What is it, Mamoru?" she questioned calmly.

"It's my wife, Sachiko! She is going to have our child!" he declared.

Kikyou's expression instantly changed into one of surprise. "Let us hurry!" she cried, rushing to follow after him. Her job was never finished.

* * *

**The Next Day**

* * *

After Kikyou helped deliver Sachiko and Mamoru's baby, she returned to the hut to find that Onigumo did truly go to sleep. By that time, the sun had already gone down.

Kikyou awoke before the sun rose to begin preparing for the day ahead of her and to search the area for any threats. After several hours passed and knowing that nothing out of the ordinary was happening, she returned to the hut, expecting to see the ex-bandit resting in his same spot. However, to her surprise, he was not there!

Of course, her first instinct was to think that he had already left the village. The possibility of it was nearly heart-wrenching for her even if she already predicted it to happen the night before. Letting out a sigh, she tried to gather herself before going off into a frenzy and calling out a meaningless search party. "Perhaps, this is the work of the Gods telling me that a bandit and a miko were not suited to become companions…" she mumbled.

Gathering some herbs into a basket, she walked outside of the hut, ready for the day's work of caring for the sick. Before she could get very far, children surrounded her, laughing.

Kikyou paused, kneeling down to be at face-level with the children. She always had a weakness for innocent kids and their carefree attitudes. While the rest of the world was in chaos, they could continue to never change, offering a temporary peace. Smiling, her current worries were placed to rest for the moment. "What is it, Houko?" she asked to the girl directly in front of her.

The black-haired girl laughed and tugged on her haori sleeve. "Kikyou-sama! Kiyoshi-san is in the village playing with our friends! He's so funny!"

Kikyou's eyes widened at that new bit of information. Wait… Onigumo playing with…_children_? She could not fathom the possibility. In all of the time he had been in the village, she had never seen him interacting with children. Rising to her feet, she implored, "Could you take me to him?"

Houko nodded and ran forward with the rest of her group.

Kikyou followed behind at a leisurely pace, careful not to make the appearance of desperation. She gripped her basket tightly. Once she saw Onigumo, she let out a small chuckle.

The ex-bandit was caught in a forced position. He was surrounded by boys and girls. Half of them grabbed onto one side of his kimono and the other half gripped onto his other side. He was turned into a human tug-of-war rope. The irritation on his face was evident, but he only maintained his calm because he promised Kikyou that he would not harm any of the villagers. He stopped resisting when he heard Kikyou's laughter. Looking up, he could see her happy expression. It was a rarity to see as of late.

"K-Kikyou-_sama_," he bit out, the honorific clearly not meant in a serious manner. "Could you please get these _children _off of me?"

The miko nodded, still laughing. "Children, please leave Kiyoshi-san alone," she told them. "I do not believe that he wants to be bothered at the moment."

A collection of disappointed sighs and "aww's" rang through the young crowd. Instantly, Onigumo was freed from their grip as the children ran off to play somewhere else.

"So, how did you end up in such a position?" she asked in a joking tone.

He wanted to roll his eyes. "I was taking a walk to gather up my thoughts and those demons you call children decided to ambush me!" His exclamation of irritation only served to amuse her even more.

"Please be patient with them, Kiyoshi," she chided. "They are young. They have much to learn, after all." She knew that he was not in the mood to be admonished so she walked past him. "If you can excuse me, I have to attend to my daily errands."

"If you must. I will go back to the hut," he answered, turning to walk in the opposite direction.

Kikyou continued making her way to the places that she needed to go, thinking about what Onigumo's possible decision would be all the while. Throughout the day, she was happy that he did not leave like she had predicted.

--

By sunset, her usual day's work was finished and Kikyou began her walk back towards her hut. However, she did not see the ex-bandit in the hut again. Sitting down and stoking the fire for dinner was her sister.

"Kaede," she called, placing down the materials she carried. "Where is Kiyoshi?"

"He left only moments ago," her younger sister replied. "Is something the matter?"

Kikyou said nothing, rushing outside of the hut only to see the man taking the path towards the forest. She paced a few ways past the edge of the village but stopped herself.

Did that mean that he was leaving the village once and for all? Why could he not tell her instead of just walking off like a coward? The thought enraged her, but she stood on the path, not knowing whether or not to follow. She knew that leaving the village would be taking a risk. She also did not want to make herself look like a desperate fool. If only for her pride, she would not chase after a man. She was a miko. She was not a normal woman. She could not be allowed the simple pleasures of normal emotion. She could not allow herself the joy of expressing sadness at the departure of such a man.

The more she told herself these things, she more like her old self she became. Although, there was something slightly different with that realization. Her hands became tight fists. Why did she believe that she finally found a friend in someone? Someone that understood her struggles. What a foolish notion! Bandits were wanderers. They never could find true happiness staying in one place.

She paused in her silent fury when she felt her cheek get wet. Was it raining? Looking up into the sky, she found that there were no clouds in the sky. Another drop of wetness slipped down her cheeks. What was this?

It was at this time that the man in question decided to turn around to look back at the village he was walking away from. There, at the end of the path, stood a beautiful woman. Upon her face rested emotions so great that they were nearly contagious. "K-Kikyou…?" he murmured aloud. Completely facing her, he ran back in her direction. "Kikyou!" he shouted, finally catching her attention. After nearing her, he noticed that she was …_crying_? And yet, he never saw anything with such beauty in his life.

Kikyou stood rigid, not even expecting him to face her. More tears fell at that thought. Many of the tears came from anger. Many more at humiliation. How could a miko succumb to such weak circumstances? She had not shown tears since her parent's death several years back. When he faced her, he viewed her at her weakest point. She felt so pathetic. "Don't look at me," she murmured in a shaky voice that was lined with strong feelings. It was a mixture of rage and sadness that managed to seep through her failing doll mask. She could feel her porcelain skin cracking with emotion. Never before had a person caused so much of her undoing.

He refused to listen to her words. He felt guilt stab through him though he did not understand why. Several months ago, he would have laughed at such a sight. A bandit causing one of the strongest of miko to cry. It was quite a sight to behold. And yet… to see this woman. Kikyou. It was completely different to him. Unlike everyone else, he had seen her as a woman and now he was seeing her at her lowest point. It was special to him. "Kikyou," he said in a stern voice. Gripping her shoulders, he forced her to fix attention to him. "Don't feel ashamed for shedding tears. Even the strongest men do such at times. Yes, you are a miko. However, you are also a woman."

She let out a bitter laugh, pushing him back. Wiping her face with her right sleeve, her eyes turned cold. "Onigumo. Do you find me pathetic or weak? As I told you yesterday, if you planned to leave, you should have notified me. Instead, you played the part of a coward and prepared to walk out without giving anyone an idea of where you were going." The tone that was heard was similar to when he first met her.

"Kikyou, why do you care so much if I left?" he asked in a hushed voice that he was not used to using. "More than anyone else in this village, I want your reasoning."

"I…" She was at a loss for words. What could she say that would get him to stay? She wanted to be friends with him? What would that do for a bandit?

His eyes narrowed and he let out a sigh. "Fine!" he growled, feeling hidden anger surface from within him. "You want to know why I was prepared to walk out?" He did not wait for her answer. "It's because I'm petrified of living a new life of peace!" Calming himself, he continued his confession.

"Ever since I was a small child, all I knew was the value of money, women, and status! Before that, my father murdered my mother and all of the siblings in front of me. The only reason I was spared was because I was the only boy my mother birthed. He called me suitable enough to continue on the tradition of being a bandit in the Onigumo Clan. When I was seven, I killed my first victim. I rejoiced in the color of blood. I learned to laugh at the sight of slaughter.

Through the years, I rose up in the ranks. I even managed to kill my father with my own hands. Then, once I finally reached the highest point in my life, it was stripped away from me. My own clan mutinied and nearly killed me. I ran for miles in search of refuge like an escaped animal."

His expression was strained. This was what he was afraid to tell her. To learn that he was such a monster and that he enjoyed it must have hurt her or even frightened her. He was not finished though. "Then, you discovered me and saved me from certain death for a reason only known to you. After spending a few months here, I was forced to recognize that this life was better than what I had always known. Discovering something new is a terrifying prospect."

Kikyou was taken aback. There was no wonder why this man could understand her so well. Was he afraid that she would run away from him if she found out? "…Onigumo, I never knew."

"No, you did not," he agreed. "So, now you understand why it is not as easy a choice as you could imagine. Honestly, I was going to leave, but when I turned around, I saw the main reason I faltered in the first place. It was not because of the peaceful life quite as much as it was for one person. It was because of you." Knowing that she was not intimidated by him said something about her bravery in his opinion.

Her eyes widened. What was he saying? Never before had someone said words like these to her. She felt an odd pull at her chest. "W-what are you trying to say?" she demanded, trying her hardest to compose herself.

"I honestly do not know since that was the first time I had the urge to tell someone about my life," he confessed. Sucking in a deep breath, he forced a smirk to overcome his features. "Kikyou, you are unlike anyone I have ever met before. That has little to do with you being a miko. The mere fact that you are able to stand there and listen to my story without any negative reaction tells me everything I need to know." Nodding his head, he said, "I have made my final decision. Seeing that you will be able to help me get used to such a change…I choose to remain here, if you would allow it."

"O-Onigumo, you don't have to do it for my sake. If I knew of your situation sooner…"

He shook his head. "No, it is for me and for you."

Her head hung down and her shoulders shook.

When she looked back up at him, he saw more tears fall from her eyes. It was unsettling to him. To see such a strong and prideful woman shedding tears for God knows what was like witnessing a giant temple burning down to ashes. It began to bother him.

Before either could fully grasp what was happening, he gripped onto her haori, pulling her closer to him. To prevent any more words from forming, he silenced Kikyou's gasp with a mind-shattering kiss.

The miko was too shocked to comprehend what was going on. All she knew was that it felt right to her and for the first time in her life, she pursued something that the woman in her desired. Closing her eyes, she melted against his lips and returned the gesture, igniting a flame within the two of them that would be hard to extinguish.

* * *

Of course, those know of the romance of the miko and the inu-hanyou that formed the history of fifty years in the Sengoku Jidai.

How did that come to be when the bond between supposed enemies was created? This one question remained on the mind of very few. For the birth of this sacrilegious relationship was the century's greatest kept secret.

* * *

A/N: Well… I hope you all liked the start of this new story! I hope that this fic gets good support since there aren't many Kikyou/Naraku or Kikyou/Onigumo stories out there that are of good quality.

However, I know the characters of Onigumo and Kikyou are going to be brought into speculation. I have a few words to say in defense of myself.

One thing is that no one knows Onigumo's personality in the first place. Sure, he is assumed to be like Naraku, but what was he like before he was burned half to death and met Kikyou?

Another thing would be that I know that Kikyou seems soft in this prologue. Trust me, I know her character well enough not to make this fic very "OOC." No one knows Kikyou before she got entrusted with the Shikon no Tama. She could have been a bit softer since she had less responsibility.

Since this is an alternate reality where Onigumo and Kikyou knew each other before Onigumo was injured, I have creative license. So, I hope it is appreciated.

And yes, this will eventually become a Kikyou/NARAKU story.

**Translations:**

Kami-sama - God

Miko - Priestess

Onee-sama - An honorable way to address an older sister

Inu-hanyou - Dog half-demon

Youkai - Demon

Please read and review!

Ja ne!


	2. The Project

**Disclaimer:**

Turtlequeen2: -sighs- I've noticed that Kikyou/Naraku stories have a history of having a lack of support! That has to change! Especially since it's partially canon now!

Kikyou: What are you going to get readers to do?

Turtlequeen2: Nothing much… I'm just ranting since I looked through the archives… Then again, most of the fan fiction were one shots…

Kikyou: There you go, then.

Inuyasha: Kikyou! What are you doing here?

Turtlequeen2: She's finally replacing you as my disclaimer helper!

Inuyasha: HA! Finally! -pauses- Wait… Don't make Kikyou do it!

Kikyou: -smiles- It is not a problem, Inuyasha. Don't worry about me.

Turtlqueen2: -rolls eyes- Well, getting on with it, I thank the following reviewers: DtecnoKira, Tragic Priestess, Black Diamond07, Chrysolite Heart, and katana sohma-demon girl!

Kikyou: Once again, no one in the series is owned by this author. Rumiko Takahashi has that honor.

* * *

**Chapter 1**

**The Project**

"Today, Class, you have a new assignment," drawled on the familiar voice of the junior high school teacher.

The students heaved a sigh in unison.

All of them, including a fifteen-year-old, raven-haired teenager.

Her brown eyes reflected the boredom she was feeling. Why did she decide to come back to school again? When the voice in the back of her mind told her so it was so she would not fail, she silenced her selfish thoughts. Turning her full focus to her teacher, she heard more on this so-called project.

"You are to work in groups while at the same time putting in your own research and effort. Each group will get a section of Japanese History to do the presentation and research paper on. All time periods will pertain to periods before the National Diet was created. Each one of you will get your own section to read over and research," the teacher explained with enthusiasm.

"Now, I will call out the groups. Group one will consist of Houjou, Asami, Kuwashima, and Higurashi."

Once the girl heard her name being called out, she turned her attention to one of her close friends, Houjou.

The boy waved back, his neatly combed black hair swaying as he rotated to face her fully. His smile never wavered as usual.

"Group two…" the teacher continued on, listing off every unit. After a few minutes of announcing the teams, she began to tell each one about their time period. "Group one, the Sengoku Jidai. Group two, Heian Jidai…"

As soon as the girl known as Higurashi Kagome heard the time period, she let out a small laugh. Of all of the time periods! She could not believe her luck.

"Is there something that you would like to share with the rest of the class, Higurashi-san?" the teacher demanded in a calm tone, telling her student that she had heard her slip-up.

"Uh, no, nothing!" Kagome replied with a nervous laugh, noticing that the rest of the class snickered at her lapse of attention.

"All right, then." Continuing on, she added, "Class, this project is due within three weeks. I expect to see good papers and presentations with this amount of time I'm giving you." The instructor began passing out papers to each student before the school bell rang.

All at once, all of the students rose from their seats and bowed, thanking their teacher and wishing her and everyone else a good day before walking out.

Once Kagome was in the hallway, she managed to bump into some of her best friends in the school. "Ayumi-chan! Eri-chan! Yuka-chan!" she shouted, not particularly having the time for extra chit-chat.

"Kagome-chan! It's great to finally have you back in school after you caught that rare rash on your back. I didn't even know that that kind of plant could do that!" Eri exclaimed, her straight hair, pulled back by the familiar yellow band, moving as she walked with the others.

"Uh…y-yeah…" Kagome gave another nervous giggle, feeling a small bead of sweat travel down the back of her head. _'Remind me to kill Jii-chan when I get home!' _she inwardly scowled, hating the "illnesses" he gave to others as excuses of why she was never at school. "You know me! Always sick!"

Yuka pulled to the front of the girls, effectively stopping them once they were outside and in their outdoor shoes. "Kagome-chan, how is your delinquent boyfriend? He's not two-timing you again, is he?"

The teen gave a sigh, feeling herself grow depressed. However, she forced herself to smile at them. "No, everything's fine!" she chirped.

The girls all returned the fake grin with one of their own, all of them knowing that she was lying.

The curly-haired Ayumi decided to change the obviously sore subject. "So, are you stressing about this new project?"

Kagome felt a smirk cross her face. "No, actually, I think I'll do fine on this assignment."

Yuka and Eri were taken aback. When was the last time they had seen their best friend so sure about her class work?

"Well…I have to go home because I have to…uh…take my medication!" Kagome said, lying so that she could get home faster. Before anyone could object, she ran in the direction of her family shrine. She let out a heavy breath of relief once she was away from the school yard. "Inuyasha's going to be irritated…" she murmured.

Upon reaching the top of the many steps that lead to her home, she saw the man in question standing with outward impatience. She resisted the urge to groan.

"Kagome, what took you so long?!" came the demand of the dog-eared, silver-haired hanyou. "I've been waiting all day!"

"I was at school! I got sidetracked for a few minutes when my friends started to talk to me," Kagome explained.

Crossing his arms in his red haori sleeves, he scoffed. "Whatever. Just get your things. We don't have all day," he grumbled.

The miko rolled her eyes at his mannerisms and ran into her house. Hurrying past her mother and brother, she charged into her room and emptied the contents of the yellow bag that was on her back. After doing that, she began packing her books, hygiene supplies, and clothes. Rushing downstairs, she picked out a few treats that she thought that her friends would like on the other side of the well.

"Are you ready?" Inuyasha asked impatiently, finding that this process took an extra twenty minutes.

"I am now!" Kagome grumbled back, finding that his impatience was annoying her. "Bye, everyone!" she then said to her family. "And I know that Jii-chan must be outside somewhere so tell him that I'm looking _forward_ to talking to him when I return…" The tone she used at the mention of her grandfather was pure sarcasm with the undertone of threat.

"Be safe," Mama Higurashi said with a smile, choosing to ignore her daughter's warning.

Kagome's brother, Souta, only frowned, hating to see his "hero" leave him again. "I hope to hear more about your travels, nee-san," he told her before she walked out with the hanyou in tow.

When the two were entered the mini-shrine containing the well, Kagome glared at the teenager. "Inuyasha, I was only a few minutes late. Don't freak out about it!"

"Well, the shards aren't waiting for us to get them!" he argued back as the two jumped into the well. Fuchsia light surrounded the couple as they crossed into another time.

Once their feet touched ground, Inuyasha pulled the oversized bag from her shoulder and jumped out with it in one leap. Rotating himself, he reached out his hand to help her out of the structure as if it were a normal reflex to him.

"I know that, Inuyasha!" Kagome told him, continuing the conversation as if they pressed a "play" button on an invisible remote. "But you don't have to get antsy when I'm late for five minutes! If I didn't care so much about what I did, I wouldn't come back at all! Don't forget about that!"

The hanyou scowled as they walked towards the village. "Actually, if you didn't come back, I'd drag you back here by force!" he growled.

"You wouldn't dare!" she accused.

"Oh? Try me!" came the challenge.

"I'm not stupid, unlike you!" she yelled.

As they entered the village grounds, the people there turned the other way. Seeing the two fight appeared to happen very often.

They stopped in front of a hut and continued arguing even as Inuyasha dropped her backpack. "Stupid? Who are you calling stupid?!"

"You!" she accused, pointing her finger at him. "You're an immature, impulsive jerk who only cares about the shards!"

"Keh! At least I never kidnapped you unlike a certain wolf…"

"Inuyasha…" Her tone dropped low, almost like a growl.

He knew that he had said something that stepped over the line. His ears pressed against his skull, waiting for the inevitable.

"Inuyasha, osuwari!"

Kotodama beads around his neck glowed a magenta color before dragging the hanyou down into the dirt with a satisfying thud.

After hearing the sound, Kagome let out a huff and stomped into the hut. "Stupid Inuyasha…" became her mantra.

"Yeah, what's surprising about that? It's Inuyasha," came a sarcastic remark from a child. Pausing for a moment, the green-eyed youkai looked up and grinned. "Kagome!" With that, he leaped into her arms.

"Shippou-chan!" Kagome giggled, hugging the kit to her chest as if he were her own. "I brought you some more treats!"

"Yay!" he celebrated, scrambling for the bag.

"Kagome-chan? How did those tests go…?" A woman stroking an all-too-familiar nekomata questioned, rising with her friend nestled in her arms. Her brown eyes and tied up black hair gave her an innocent appearance despite her well-known reputation.

The miko let out a sigh. "They were a nightmare…"

"Was it arithmetic again?" This voice was inquisitive as another young man rose from his seat, shakujou in hand. Violet eyes sparkled with curiosity.

It seemed as if the taijiya and monk ignored the hanyou's distress, both assuming that he had said something ignorant as he usually did.

Kagome nodded her head and let out another sigh. Thinking upon the assignment she was given, she beamed. "Despite that setback, I _did _get an assignment that you might think would be interesting."

"Oh? And what would that be, Kagome-sama?" Miroku asked.

"I have to research the Sengoku Jidai," she answered, laughing. "It should be a piece of cake considering that I practically live here half the time."

"Ah…So I see," he remarked, smirking.

Inuyasha marched into the room, interrupting the civil conversation. "Damn it, Kagome! What was _that _for?" he demanded, slumping down in a pouting fashion.

"You know why I did it," Kagome replied, maintaining her calm. "I shouldn't have to explain it to you over and over."

"Keh!" was his only response.

Wanting to avoid another fight, Sango asked, "So, what do you have to know about this time period, Kagome-chan?"

"Well, as I see it, just myths and some of the history," the miko explained. "I brought back some history books that should have additional facts in case that I can't get everything down from memory and experience."

"I suppose you can't write about Naraku?" Miroku noted.

"Not unless he's recorded in these books," Kagome laughed. Which, of course, she silently prayed that he was not in them. She would not look forward to writing a report on their arch nemesis. That would have been a very large damper on her project plans. Looking around, she noticed that someone was missing. "Where is Kaede-obaa-chan? Is she helping the ill again?"

"As usual," Sango replied. Letting out a sigh, she glanced at the sore hanyou. "Shall we be going soon?"

"Keh! It's about time!" Inuyasha growled, already prepared to go since the day before. "Glad that everyone's finally ready."

Kagome rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, your majesty," she mumbled out of sarcasm.

Everyone walked out of the hut except for Shippou and Kirara, who were resting on familiar limbs.

The nekomata hopped from Sango's arms and allowed flames to surround her as she transformed into her larger state.

Miroku and Sango climbed onto her back as they waited.

At the same time, Kagome got onto Inuyasha's back with Shippou on her shoulder and her bag strapped on. Making sure that the hanyou had a good grip on his "cargo," he began to run with Kirara flying swiftly beside them.

They were heading towards another rumored village that had abnormal youkai problems. A Jewel shard could lie in waiting.

* * *

Slithering translucent and white creatures flew around trees carrying bright orbs under their bodies. Though there were many, all of them flew in one general direction. They were making a delivery.

Icy brown eyes glimmered by the setting sun shining through the thick forestry. A hand gripping onto a bow opened, dropping the weapon onto the ground as the person saw the oncoming spirits.

"Shinidaimachuu," she whispered, feeling a combination of comfort and sadness as they swarmed around her body. One by one, the glowing orbs dropped into her body before the creatures sailed off in search of more to keep her body sustained.

How did she become like this? The answer was simple enough. However, _why _she was fated to this new "life," was another question she had little theory for. All she had left were her ongoing memories from her previous living state. Time continued moving on around her, but she was cursed to wonder around timelessly. She did not belong in this world.

Her eyes narrowed sorrowfully. Picking up her bow, she shook thoughts from her heads and continued to walk. "I must find him," she muttered in her cold voice.

--

"It seems as if my dear Kikyou is looking for me…" The voice was sinister, sounding amused. A laugh sounded within dark walls. "That will be all, Kanna."

The command was heard by an albino youkai girl who gripped a mirror as if her life depended on it. Her eyes reflected a missing soul and her expression showed a lack of emotions. The mirror that was showing a lonely woman rippled back into showing her master's face.

"You are free to do as you wish."

She said nothing and rose up to leave the room, leaving her master to his thoughts.

"Kikyou… I wonder…" he trailed off, his crimson eyes glowing by candlelight. His lips twitched into an evil sneer. "Why do you seek me out when you know that I will simply go to you when I am needed?"

His hand grabbed onto a wooden doll structure as he plucked a strand of his hair from his head. Wrapping the strand around the apparent puppet, he activated one of his many black spells. Throwing a bamboo pelt over the copy of himself that began to stand, he smirked at his handiwork.

The completed golem bowed before his creator. "What task shall I complete?" it asked, the voice sounding exactly like the original.

"I wish for you to seek out the maiden, Kikyou. She appears to be missing me…" the man chuckled.

"As you wish, Naraku-sama," came the reply, an obvious smirk hiding behind a baboon mask. The cloaked man disappeared from view, telling Naraku that he was on his way to create a very amusing show.

All the man had to do was wait.

* * *

By nightfall, Kikyou had stopped walking, spotting a village in the distance. Perhaps she could find herbs to pick there before she set out in the morning? She found a sliver of her old self coming out when she thought about miko duties. Glancing up at the clear night sky, she let the smallest of smiles cross her face, thinking how peaceful and silent the area seemed to be.

However, it was not long before the smile turned into a frown. She did not turn around, but stood still, sensing a presence in the back of her, hiding behind trees.

"You can come out of hiding, Naraku. I know it's you," she called out, knowing very well who it was and the true form he came in.

"Your skills never cease to amaze me, miko," the golem chuckled, walking into the field so that he could easily be seen.

Kikyou rotated herself, arrow locked into her bow and ready to fire. "I wonder, why do you continue to send out copies of yourself? Are you afraid to see me in person?" A small smirk crossed her features at that thought.

The Naraku copy still held up a cool confidence. "Ah, so you did know, after all," he said, confessing that she was right about his form. "And, contrary to your belief, I would be more than happy to lead you to my current residency."

She raised her eyebrow, her defenses up. "Do you have yet another trap awaiting me?" She was prepared to fire at any given moment.

"No, not at all, Kikyou-sama," he addressed, bowing his head, mocking her past position. "It was an offer since you seem eager to see me again. Nothing more."

"Ah…" she said, mocking him in return. "It does not matter if you are lying or not," she murmured. "You can never harm me so long as you have that human heart of yours."

The golem scowled beneath his mask, but quickly recovered himself. "If you are so sure about yourself, why must you hesitate? Do you not desire the Shikon no Tama in all of its _purity_?"

She scoffed. "You should know better than most, Naraku." She lowered her bow slightly, relaxing a little. "But if you insist, I may as well humor you. I will not take _your_ Jewel so you can trust that this _visit _would be nothing more than for your pleasure of seeing me." The words "your" and "visit" sounded acidic on her tongue.

The puppet gave a small, amused laugh. "Kikyou, I know you better than you think. You were seeking me out. I have eyes everywhere; did you not remember?"

Kikyou gave a harsh laugh in return, the wind carrying the bitter sound to his ears. "Oh yes, how could I forget? Your obsession over me has never ended has it? I imagine you came to me to save me the 'trouble,' am I correct?"

It appeared that the miko knew _him_ better than he thought. Naraku had not predicted her to say something like that. "So, do you accept my offer?" he asked, choosing to ignore her obsession statement.

"As I have said, I will humor your offer," she repeated, placing her arrow back within her quiver.

"I am most pleased then, miko," the golem snickered, leading her towards Naraku's castle.

--

Several hours later, Kikyou and the puppet arrived on Naraku's grounds. She knew that if the man tried anything moronic, she could easily outsmart him at his own game.

Naraku's puppet placed a barrier up around them so that Kikyou would not be affected by the surrounding shouki until they were within the castle.

Within his study, Naraku smirked, knowing that the woman was only a few meters away from where he was residing. He silently willed his golem to slide back the shoji doors in order to let the two inside. Upon seeing the woman, his eyes glimmered with amusement. Was Kikyou desperate to see him or kill him? Perhaps both?

"_Naraku_," she spat venomously. "I am sure that you enjoy seeing me again."

"Ah, of course, I would be, Kikyou-sama," he mocked, rising to his feet with little difficulty despite wearing a layered regal kimono. Flashing a glance at his puppet, he mentally commanded it to give the Inuyasha-tachi some "fun" in order to leave the pair alone.

A cold smirk crossed her lips. "I intended to come here in order to destroy you. I know that you must have known this so why would you lead me here? Did you think that I was lying?"

Naraku chuckled. "I believe your words, miko. After all, you are not allowed to lie. I thought that you would appreciate me allowing you a head start."

Kikyou rose her eyebrow at what he had said. It was as if the two were conversing about normal things as friends rather than murder as bitter enemies. "Please save me your perfidious words."

Careful to continue the dance of banter, he continued. "However, I know that you _do_ over exaggerate," he stated. "I know that you had little intention to kill me tonight. You know well enough that you would become soil and bones if you attempted to do so before your plans fell into place."

The miko's eyes narrowed, feeling annoyance rise up within her. "You are also exaggerating, Naraku. I know that you cannot kill me as you are now."

The hanyou resisted the urge to lose his composure. That was a subject he did not like discussing. It was his only weakness and she knew it better than anyone. Gathering his wits, he did not give her the satisfaction of seeing him agree with her. "Seeing as neither of us are here with the intent to destroy, why are you here, Kikyou?"

"As I have said, it was to humor you. If you did not wish to see me, you would have never sent your golem after me," she stated in a simple tone.

"Come now, miko. I am not as simple as to believe that. You were searching for me and I decided to save you the trouble. Now that you are here, you might as well tell me what your purpose was for. Do you miss _your_ Jewel?" At that last question, he raised the palm of his hand and summoned the precious jewel into it.

The Shikon no Tama was nearing completion. Most of the Jewel was a dark violet mass within his hand, the aura glowing with intense evil. There only needed to be a few more shards of it collected before it would be a perfect globe again.

"Or…are you here to help me complete the Jewel, once more?" he asked, continuing to taunt her.

Kikyou could feel anger starting to overcome her features. "I have done my part. That was in no way meant to help you."

"However, it did and you knew what the outcome would be. Does it have anything to do with _Inuyasha_?" Naraku sneered when he saw the miko lose the last of her calm. "Do you continue to hate him as much as you did those fifty years ago?"

Within a few seconds, an arrow was pressing against his throat. "I know very well that you caused us to hate each other. _You _are the only one to blame for that misfortune." The intensity of her anger was felt in the spike of her aura. Her grip tightened around the shaft of the arrow.

Naraku found himself amused by her outburst, but nevertheless, called the Jewel back to its original hiding place in order to be cautious. "Perhaps… but you were the ones who did not trust each other enough to see the truth."

"Naraku, do not try my patience. I will not hesitate to purify you here," Kikyou hissed, pressing the arrowhead even more into his skin, drawing what appeared to be "blood" for his standards. She added her miko powers into the weapon, causing it to burn his skin slightly.

He chuckled, somehow knowing that she would not be able to commit the crime while at the same time ignoring the pain. "By all means, Kikyou. I am at your mercy," he jeered. "You do not need to hesitate if you hate me so much."

Kikyou let out a steady breath to calm herself. She could not do something this foolish. Not now. She still had to go along with her plan. So much could go wrong if she did not wait until the Jewel was completed. "I am not hesitating. I could very well destroy you here and now. However, I know better." Not bothering to be careful with removing the arrow, she yanked it from his neck. She let a small smile appear. "Naraku," she murmured, her tone completely changing.

The dark hanyou resisted the urge to snarl at the harsh way she removed her weapon. Working hard, he kept his cool countenance in place. The new voice the miko was using caught him off guard. What was she scheming?

"Perhaps you are correct about me and Inuyasha. We were not able to completely trust each other because of such times. However, me and him formed a bond that was much stronger than of my previous ones. And currently, I still know him well enough to help carry out my plan that will result in your demise," she explained, turning the tables on him.

Naraku's eyes narrowed slightly. For some odd reason, her statement about a "bond" between her and Inuyasha sparked an annoyance for him. What was she aiming at?

"Naraku, you will not win. That is a fact I know," she stated, her eyes shining with newfound confidence.

"That is what you assume, miko. We shall see when the time comes, ne?" he replied, finding it harder to maintain his resolve.

"That is a fact. So long as you have that heart, you will forever be at my whim," Kikyou said, nearly sneering. An odd facial expression to be seen on a miko. Continuing on, she uttered a sentence that she knew would affect him greatly.

"Your will never change, _Onigumo_."

* * *

A/N: A cliffy! Hahaha! That's the first one I've made in a while…

It's good to know that I laid down a good foundation. See? I didn't make Kikyou OOC in this chapter! Proof that I was emphasizing that she could have acted differently when she was alive (pre-Inuyasha).

**Translations: **

Sengoku Jidai - The Feudal Era

Heian Jidai - The period before the Sengoku Jidai (where Midoriko was brought up)

Jii-chan - Grandpa

Nee-san - Sister

Youkai taijiya - Demon Slayer

Shakujou - Miroku's staff

Please review!

Ja ne!


	3. Retaliation

**Disclaimer: **

Turtlequeen2: Sorry for the long wait! I'm finally back and writing!

Kikyou: I believe that your readers were growing restless with such a cliff ending.

Turtlequeen2: Thank you for stating the obvious…

Kikyou: I only think that you should update for the sake of your readers.

Turtlequeen2: Well, thanks for that uplifting sentence…

Kikyou: Well, if you will excuse me, I shall go hunt down Naraku now. -walks off-

Turtlequeen2: Oh… okay…?

I thank the following reviews: DtecnoKira, Whispering Lillies, rune, Tragic Priestess, Chrysolite Heart, and myobu!

I do not own Inuyasha; only Rumiko Takahashi does.

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Retaliation**

As soon as the name left her lips, Naraku froze. Kikyou dared to utter the identity that was a part of himself. She dared to say the accursed name of the human heart that was stuck within him. _Onigumo_ was a half of him that he loathed.

"Kikyou…" he finally murmured, his voice dropping an octave lower than usual. His crimson eyes burned into her amused ones.

"What is it, Naraku?" she taunted. "Do you hate your human half so much as to pretend he doesn't exist?" She continued to smirk, extremely pleased by his reaction.

Naraku scowled at her. "Do not test me, Kikyou," he growled in a warning tone. It had gotten to him.

Kikyou's face grew a serious expression. "I am the only one who knows of your true weaknesses, Naraku. I know it drives you into madness." She did not feel too nervous about their close proximity despite him still being close enough to touch her. "That is one of the primary reasons you seek to destroy me, is it not?" Her voice was calm and as rhythmic as stones skipping across the surface of a pond.

With every word she spoke, Naraku grew more irritated. She had him where she wanted him. And within his castle, no less! This could not go on. Managing to catch her off guard, he grabbed her wrists and slammed them against the wall above her head, holding onto them to the point of pain.

Despite the budding agony of the burning pressure, Kikyou managed to laugh. "I have gotten to you."

"Kikyou, I would not think too highly of myself if I were you," he growled. "You are by yourself and in my castle." He calmed himself to give her a small smirk. "Do you realize how vulnerable you are right now?" The further emphasize his point, he squeezed her wrists tighter. He knew better than to try any of his shouki on her, figuring that she would be able to purify the gas with her aura.

"Perhaps I am a woman, but do not mistake me as any ordinary human woman," Kikyou spat, glaring at him.

He chuckled at her sudden burst of anger. "No, I would never underestimate your skills as a miko, Kikyou-_sama_," he told her, mocking the honorific that the usual villagers used with her.

Kikyou usually did not react to anyone mocking her title, but when the evil hanyou did it, it seemed different. It was more able to pierce her resolve. Managing to move her fingers above his own hands, she focused her aura and managed to purify him enough to singe his skin like fire igniting from flint and a stick.

Due more to surprise rather than to the pain, Naraku drew back, letting go of her wrists.

To this reaction, she gave him another smirk. "Do not underestimate me, then, Naraku."

He was nearing his breaking point. The hanyou wanted to do nothing more than to impale her and watch her turn into dust by this point in time. "Do not forget, you were killed by my hands. Do you think I cannot do it again?" he snarled.

She threw back her head and laughed. "You forget. I am already dead," she pointed out. "The only things keeping me bound to this world are seeing _your _demise and returning the Shikon no Tama to its once pure state."

"You may be dead, but to me, you are still walking this world, nevertheless," he finally said. His patience with her was growing increasingly thin. Using his demonic speed, he risked his own body's safety by appearing mere centimeters from her. "Kikyou, my current hurdle is destroying you. Once I am able to do so, I will be unstoppable."

"Perhaps, you think so," she murmured in her calm voice. "But do not underestimate my reincarnation either. Even if you manage to get rid of me once more, she still has the potential to surpass even myself." She said these words more or less to threaten him. Part of her knew Kagome's power to be as strong, but she did not intend to depart from this world any time soon. She stared at him defiantly.

"She is not the one standing in front of me, now is she?" Naraku told her. Kagome and Inuyasha was another problem he could deal with at another time. With the inu-hanyou unable to penetrate his barrier at the moment, there was no real reason to worry.

"They are a problem you will face sooner or later. You cannot avoid them, nor are you able to destroy me as you are now," Kikyou could only say, not the least bit intimidated at their bodies' close proximity.

His crimson stare seemed to set ablaze by her matching banter. He knew that if he did not stop her soon enough, he would do something reckless that would spoil his plans. Snaking his hand up to cup her chin and jerk her face even closer to his, he growled. "Kikyou…" Pausing, he closed the distance between their faces and forcefully covered her lips with his own.

Kikyou's eyes widened and her calm was instantly shattered. However, she was too much in shock to even move. She felt as paralyzed as a corpse.

Naraku continued his actions, forcing entry into her mouth with his tongue and biting deep into her bottom lip with his teeth. With any other human, their lip would have bled from such a bite, but since Kikyou held no blood within her body, she did not release any.

After a few moments and after feeling the sharp, needlepoint agony, Kikyou's hands moved onto his chest in order to push him back.

However, before she could harm him, he pulled back from her. "I _will _break you in due time, Kikyou," he vowed. Then in a quick fashion, he tugged her arm and shoved her away from him. He put power behind this shove, making her unable to maintain her balance.

The miko could feel the mark on her lip and felt her aura spark with rage. She did not bother to stand yet. Never had she felt as violated in her life nor even in her afterlife! Reaching for the bow she had dropped earlier, she pulled out an arrow from her quiver and knocked it onto her string. Pulling back, she aimed the arrow at his chest while rising onto one leg for a better stance.

Naraku indulged in her reaction and gave a twisted sneer. "I wonder…" he trailed off. "What would _Inuyasha _think about what has just transpired?"

Upon hearing the hanyou's name being uttered, the hand that pulled back on the string shook slightly. Though she knew that Inuyasha relied more on her reincarnation, she _did _suddenly think about what would happen if she bumped into him before she could wash Naraku's stench off of herself. "H-how _dare_ you!" she hissed, losing control of her anger. Narrowing her eyes, she released the bowstring, channeling as much of her power into the arrow as she could.

The evil hanyou was quick to put up a barrier, but even this shield was not able to withstand such intensity. The miasma that lingered around the area was instantly purified as the arrow sailed through the air. Upon hitting the barrier, the arrow broke through the magenta wall and struck him.

To Naraku's surprise, the arrow was strong enough to break apart his body. Luckily for him, she had missed striking his heart so he would not die just yet.

Though, as the arrow hit him, because of such a closed space, the walls within the castle shook as half of the castle behind them began to crumble. Wooden panels from above them began to fall down as the roof started to give way.

Kikyou knew that Naraku could be able to make his escape, but she did not know for certain that she would survive under crushed rubble. She had to leave the castle while she still had the chance. Clutching her bow tightly and pulling on her quiver, she ran out of the room and down the hallways, trying to find an exit. The building kept shaking with wood falling every direction, causing dust and smoke to form.

Pushing onward, she finally find the door and managed to escape with minimal scrapes on her body. Fortunately, since Naraku was weakened due to her shot, his barrier crumbled around the area.

However, due to such destruction, the youkai around the area began to grow restless, crowding around the grounds. The woman let out a curse as she knocked another arrow into her bow and released it. The glowing arrow managed to purify Naraku's miasma as well as killed several groups of demons that were headed towards her.

The sky darkened, revealing even more minor demons pouring out of the clouds like a torrent of rain! Kikyou could do nothing but continue to destroy demons. She knew that soon, she would run out of arrows. There were too many youkai to handle on her own. As she shot more arrows, she ran towards the forest, also knowing that she would have to reserve her strength long enough to make a barrier for herself.

She could hear their deafening roars and feel their evil intent as they chased her through the trees. She could not call upon her shinidaimachuu yet due to the risk of them getting killed in the process of protecting her. "Why was I so reckless?" she pondered to herself, growing frustrated.

Then she thought back to the kiss that Naraku had forced upon her. Her body froze momentarily as she felt a wave of disgust overcome her. However, due to such bad timing, she became an easy target for a few flying demons. They managed to hit her hard, knowing her a few meters into a tree. For a human, their spine could have been snapped upon impact, but since Kikyou's body was artificial, her skin only cracked apart like pottery.

"Damn it all…" she cursed, shooting at the group that surrounded her, instantly destroying them. Knowing that more were on their way and that she was far enough from Naraku's grounds, she stuck her bow into the grass, like one would strike a pole into the earth. Sitting up cross legged, she calmed her trembling self and closed her eyes. She then held her hands up in a prayer-like fashion. Shutting out the outside world, she murmured chants under her breath, casting a pale blue barrier around her. Once she opened her eyes, the youkai could not reach her.

She could have easily held such a barrier if she were not weakened already. Now, it required her concentration to hold it steady. She knew that she needed more souls to come to her soon if she were to survive beyond the next day.

After sitting there until sunrise, Kikyou was terribly weakened, but was thankful that the youkai finally found somewhere else to roam. Since she currently carried no Shikon no kakera or was not a true human, she assumed that the youkai lost interest and decided to give up on trying to devour her. One by one, the creatures slithered away and the sky brightened to reveal an air of pure blue.

Releasing the hold on her barrier, she silently called upon her shinidaimachuu. Reclining against the tree she sat in front of, she kept her eyes closed, but stayed alert. Her lack of strength made her feel exhausted despite her not needing rest like normal humans.

After several moments, she felt the spirit-like youkai surround her, dropping the white orbs into her chest. She slowly opened her eyes, feeling the warmth of the souls and her powers returning into full force. She gave silent thanks to her companions and slowly stood up once she was ready to travel again.

"What am I to do?" she murmured aloud to herself. Now that Naraku had most likely escaped to find a new location to hide, she would have to go after him again. Not to mention, should she even face him alone now? Especially after such an event…

She picked up her bow and quiver, but paused, rolling the images over in her head. Naraku did the unthinkable. He _kissed_ her. Never had she predicted that he would do something like that. Who did he think he was?

Now that she was able to relax more, she thought over it more. Beyond it surprising her and angering her, what other emotions did it evoke from her? It was disgust, she felt, right? Her most hated enemy had defiled her. Why should she not feel ill from such an action?

Some part of her thought back to the one man she used to care for in life. _'Onigumo…' _she thought to herself. There was a time she loved that man, right? Before Inuyasha and Onigumo's accident, the pair were unlikely lovers. She shook her head violently. _'What am I thinking?' _she demanded of herself. Surely, that one kiss had not made her lose her mind?! Naraku and Onigumo were as one and the same as her and Kagome! Once Onigumo became Naraku, the bandit was lost to her forever and even before then, she had moved onto Inuyasha.

_'Inuyasha…' _she mentally trailed off. What would happen if he found out about this? She scoffed. She knew exactly what he would do. He would most likely go off on a hot-headed tangent, threatening to irrationally destroy Naraku. Either way, she had to wash the scent of this man off of her before Inuyasha and her had the chance to see each other.

Finally deciding upon her first action of business, she set out again, sending her shinidaimachuu away. "Naraku, you will not get the chance to ever touch me again," she vowed to herself.

* * *

"Keh! All of that work for just one shard?" was all Inuyasha could say, complaining about the small glowing sliver that now lay in a small jar around Kagome's neck.

The monk beside him could only sigh. "Now, now, Inuyasha," he chided. "We did get a few extra things like food and money."

Inuyasha rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, fitting his hands into his oversized haori sleeves. "Yeah, only because you swindled them for the extra goods," he snorted.

Kagome let out a small laugh. "Well, we all should be used to it by now, Inuyasha," she pointed out. "Besides, we were running low on money."

"That still doesn't make it right…" he grumbled to himself.

The kit resting on Kagome's shoulder heard his remark with his demonic senses and decided to remark before he could stop himself. "Since when do _you _know the difference between right and wrong?"

Inuyasha's eye twitched as he stopped walking to glare at the fox. "What was that, you little brat?!" he growled.

Shippou ducked behind Kagome's head as if she would be his invincible shield of protection. "Ack!" he squeaked.

"Don't act like you didn't say anything!" Inuyasha pressed, continuing to yell at the kitsune.

Kagome let out a frustrated huff, wanting to stop the fight before it got any worse. "Inuyasha…" she murmured in a low voice, just loud enough for him to hear.

The hanyou rolled his eyes at the pair and turned around. "Fine," he growled. "The idiot ain't worth my time anyway!"

Shippou, once again, could not control his speech. Feeling anger well up within himself, he jumped off of Kagome's shoulder to run up to Inuyasha. "Who the hell are you calling an idiot?! You should take a look in a river!"

Miroku and Sango both shook their heads, knowing what would happen next.

Even Kirara, who lay resting in her female companion's arms, mewed in a fashion that sounded like a sigh.

"That's it!" Inuyasha snarled, picking up the kitsune by his bushy tail before he could scamper away. Clenching his eyes shut out of anger, Inuyasha pounded his fist down on the child's head, leaving behind a large bump. After he vented, he dropped the kitsune down on the ground and began to walk away from the crowd.

"Grr…" Shippou growled, feeling the tears peak out of the corner of his eyes due to the pain of the hit. "That jerk!"

Kagome bend down to pick the kit up before sending a glare so full of irritation that it made Inuyasha freeze. "Inuyasha!" she shouted. "Osuwari!"

As everyone around the trio predicted, Inuyasha soon found himself with a face full of dirt.

Walking up to the hanyou who was busy wiping the dirt off of his face after the command wore off, the miko glowered down at him. "How many times do I have to tell you not to hit Shippou-chan?!" she yelled.

Inuyasha was already irritated with both Kagome and Shippou and so did not hold his temper back. "Keh! Maybe if Shippou would learn how to keep his mouth shut, I wouldn't have to teach him a lesson now, would I?!" Dusting his clothes off, he stood up.

Kagome opened her mouth to speak, but knew that if she said anything more, the hanyou would find himself in a crater. Snapping her mouth shut, she stomped off ahead of the group with Shippou still in her arms.

Sango and Miroku walked up to Inuyasha, both heaving sighs at the same time.

"Inuyasha, you really need to watch your temper," Miroku advised as if he were a doctor prescribing medicine dosage.

"Keh! Like I feel like listening to your preaching right now!" Inuyasha growled before walking ahead of the two.

Later in the day once everyone was more calm, they stopped for lunch. Sitting down on a large checkered blanket that Kagome had gotten out of her giant yellow backpack, they awaited the food that her and Sango would prepare.

This day seemed to be the same type of meal they had every day. A cup of ramen--In Inuyasha's case, several cups--followed by a few pieces of onigiri alongside a drink from Kagome's world.

Sipping his canned tea, Miroku looked at the miko, wanting to get rid of the tension in the air that was still surrounding Inuyasha and Kagome. "Kagome-sama, did you get anywhere with your research?"

Kagome blinked at the monk's question before remembering what he was referring to. "Ah! My project!" she exclaimed, reaching into her bag for several history books. "Thanks for reminding me about that, Miroku-sama! I didn't have the time to do anything last night due to our battle."

Inuyasha gave a snort after slurping up the rest of his ramen. "Keh! You and your school stuff…" he trailed off.

"Well, excuse me for having other responsibilities other than hunting for Jewel shards!" she snapped back upon hearing his remark.

"Keh! Whatever," he mumbled, hopping into a branch of the tree that was beside their picnic. He reclined against the truck with his arms crossed behind his head, trying to ignore her.

Kagome rolled her eyes at his immaturity, but decided not to comment. Opening the first book, she flipped to the chapter that regarded the Sengoku Jidai. Skimming over the pages, she frowned once she found something that caught her interest. "The 'Legend of the Shikon no Tama' was a fable that was passed down from generation to generation from those of the Heian Jidai. It was said to be the main source of conflict by which the Sengoku Jidai was named after…" she read out loud for everyone to hear. She gave a gasp. "I can't believe this! The Shikon no Tama is actually in this book?!"

Sango raised her eyebrow. "What does that mean, Kagome-chan? Does it have other information regarding the Shikon no Tama that we don't know about?" she asked after finishing her meal.

Kagome frowned in thought and began to read the passages more thoroughly. "It doesn't seem like it…" she trailed off. "It tells about the history and background regarding the Jewel. It then goes into Midoriko-sama's history before leading into…"

She cut herself off when her finger that trailed over the Japanese characters found a familiar name. "…Kikyou…?" she murmured quietly.

Inuyasha, who had been listening with some interest, suddenly perked up and jumped down from the tree. "What about Kikyou?" he demanded.

Kagome resisted the urge to glare at the hanyou for his lack of sensitivity, but let out a depressed huff instead.

The others around the pair easily noticed Kagome's sudden change in demeanor. It was very obvious that the miko held special feelings towards the hanyou. It was just too bad that Inuyasha never seemed to pay attention enough to catch onto until it was during a crucial moment.

Kagome calmed herself and did not answer him directly until after she finished reading through the passage. "It's nothing that you haven't heard. Apparently, some people down the line in history believed that everyone involved with the 'Tale of the Shikon no Tama' were non-existent. People of today just think that this…" she paused, holding up the jar of shards for affect. "…isn't real. This entire journey to them is a myth or an analogy to explain to children about the Sengoku Jidai and the ancient history of Japan in general."

Inuyasha sat back and scoffed. "People in your time are stupid then."

Kagome's eyes narrowed towards him. "What was that?" she snapped, closing the book.

The hanyou crossed his arms stubbornly. "You heard me, Kagome," he tossed back. "Look around you. Do you think this is fake?"

The miko huffed, not even needing to look at her surroundings. "Sure, _I _know this is all too real, but not every schoolgirl in Japan has been able to hop into a well and fight demons after the school day's over."

Sango and Miroku both nodded sagely, understanding where Kagome was coming from.

"So, people from your world think that this never happened?" Miroku asked. "That's nearly a shame, unfortunately. If you don't believe in your history, how would you prevent it from repeating itself over?"

Kagome sighed. "You do have a point, Miroku-sama." She turned her attention towards the monk and continued speaking. "However, where I live, youkai aren't abundant and running around open pastures. It's not as if they would believe in a mystical Jewel that would grant any person unimaginable power. _I_ only believe that the Shikon no Tama exists is because I'm here most of the time and living through this history. Besides, the Jewel flew out of _my _side in the first place!"

Sango decided that she had to talk. "With that type of logic, it shouldn't be a surprise then," she said with a tone of agreement.

The miko looked down in her lap, trying to think. "Though, it's strange that Kikyou and Inuyasha would be mentioned like that. I wonder why I never thought to look in my books before…?"

Shippou, who sat beside Kirara, took all of the information into his head, reeling on the edge of confusion. Why was Kagome's world so vastly different than their own? How did she manage it? "Kagome…" he began. "Is there anything in there about the rest of us? Or even you in there?"

Kagome let out a small laugh. "Me? Why would I be in it?" she asked, looking down at the kitsune.

"Well, you're with us all the time. If that idiot over there…" he trailed off, glaring at Inuyasha due to his still recovering bump, before going on, "…is worth recording, why not Miroku or Sango?"

Miroku could tell that Inuyasha was prepared to lunge at the kitsune again and moved his golden monk shakujou in front of the hanyou's body before he could move. "Inuyasha, despite Shippou's tone towards you, he does have a point," he pointed out.

Inuyasha sat back again, rolling his eyes. "It's not like I asked to be wrote about in some spell book I can't even understand."

"Never mind that…" Kagome said, cutting him off. "…but if only to humor Shippou-chan, I'll look through it some more." She paused for a few seconds before letting out a laugh. "Who would have thought that I'd write part of a history report about my friends?"

* * *

Crimson eyes narrowed out of irritation. That wretched woman managed to weaken him significantly. _'Damn you, Kikyou…' _came the inward curse for the umpteenth time that day.

Naraku had to reconstruct his body due to the impact of both Kikyou's arrow and the structure collapsing around him. Luckily, he had made it out of the castle right before the entire building fell apart. After sending his incarnations out to locate another suitable place, they gathered to dispatch of the humans on the grounds. Finding a secluded area in the newly captured castle, Naraku finally had the chance to recover himself.

A young looking woman wearing a stylish kimono strode into the room, trying not to cringe at the site of seeing her master piecing himself together like a puzzle. "Naraku…" she began, trying her hardest to not glare at the man she hated more than life itself. "…You called me?" Her pinned up black hair and jade earrings swayed with her as she spoke.

Naraku forced himself to smirk at her. "Kagura," he murmured. "I need you and Kanna to take care of some business for me."

_'Not that surprising…' _Kagura thought to herself with lacing sarcasm. Looking up at his form with her reflecting crimson stare, she asked, "What would that be, then?"

"Go give Inuyasha's group some entertainment," he told her. "Make sure that Inuyasha is separated from the rest of them."

Kagura raised her eyebrow, taking out her white and red fan and flicking it open slightly. "Are you planning to trick him with another illusion?"

To this, Naraku chuckled darkly. "No, nothing of the sort." After seeing Kagura's confused expression, he decided to explain himself more. "The sight he will see will be nothing short of reality."

"Very well, then," Kagura said, flashing a small smirk.

He silently dismissed her and watched her exit his room. After several more moments, he was fully reassembled, his limbs now connected by youkai tissue. He let out a deep breath and wanted to rest his body after such work, but something prevented himself from doing so.

A nearly inhuman growl sounded in Naraku's head, catching the man off guard.

_"Naraku! What have you done?!"_

Calming himself slightly, the evil hanyou pulled on the underclothes for his kimono. "You sound familiar…" he spoke aloud, catching himself in a smirk. "I suppose you've enjoyed the show?"

_"What the hell is that supposed to mean? I only fully awoke myself because of that apparent display of lust."_

Naraku let out a low laugh, feeling amused. " 'Lust,' you say?" he murmured. "Choose to believe what you wish, but Kikyou will fall by my hands once more."

_"You locked me into sleep for a long time. Now that I am awake, I won't let you harm her!" _came the mental vow that sounded through Naraku's mind.

"Funny," the hanyou began. "Aren't you the one who gave me your soul? Kikyou's blood has stained your hands as much as it has stained mine."

The mental voice silenced itself for a few moments until it replied. _"You liar! I wanted to take Kikyou alive! I never wanted to kill her!" _The tone sounded as if the voice was in denial.

"Whether or not you wanted it to happen is out of the question now, do you not think?" Naraku responded, growing annoyed with the echoing in his head. "As it stands, _I _am in control, _Onigumo, _and I will not let you ruin my plans."

Suddenly, a laugh sounded in Naraku's mind.

_"We'll see about that, Naraku…" _was the reply before all was silent.

* * *

A/N: I apologize for the long wait! College in a pain and I've been preoccupied with many things over this past Holiday Break! This would be my late Christmas present to you Naraku/Kikyou fans and my readers!

I hope you enjoyed the part with the Inuyasha-tachi. I made sure to put my own spin on the whole "Kagome finds their part in her history books" thing by making them debate about the real subjects that I've seen brought up in forums. Also, I decided to make Onigumo be able to communicate with Naraku in order to further Naraku's hate towards his human heart.

I also hoped that the kiss was suitable enough for your tastes! I suppose you could call a bit of fanservice.

**Translations: **

Onigiri - Rice balls

Shakujou - Miroku's staff

Inu-hanyou - Dog-half-demon

Please Review!

Ja ne!


	4. Reality and Apologies

**Disclaimer: **

Turtlequeen2: Did you guys miss me?

Kikyou: You've been missing for quite some time now…

Turtlequeen2: -sighs- I know… College sucks.

Kikyou: What is a "college"?

Turtlequeen2: A place people go to in order to get a higher education. Think of it like a Confucius school or a specialization school for the elite in your time.

Kikyou: -nods- I see… And I won't bother with asking what "sucks" means.

Turtlequeen2: Good. -takes a deep breath- Anyways.

I thank the following reviewers: Black Diamond07, Bastas Babe, Kaiyosei, Midoriko, AybssNaraku, bkwrm-rtfrk, and sSophisticateds!

I do not own Inuyasha; the great Rumiko Takahashi has that honor!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Reality and Apologies**

_Splash! _

Water poured over a right shoulder covered in clingy white cloth.

_Splash! _

Water poured over the matching left shoulder.

The wooden bucket used to pour the water was then set aside as the woman sat in silent meditation. Her black bangs clung to her forehead, dripping the clear liquid onto the river bank's boulders beneath her. The same liquid trickled down her porcelain face, much like a fragile doll taking a soak in a tub of water. The soaked, white under-kimono hugged her body as if it were a second skin. If anyone happened to look over the cliff's edge where the waterfall led, they would have thought her to be any type of normal miko performing ritualistic duties.

The healing undead miko was currently performing formal bathing rituals in order to cleanse herself. She sat on her knees, her hands brought together in a traditional prayer stance as she concentrated her energy on making sure her body still maintained whatever pureness it could keep while in such a form. While she did this, the bright rays of the sun did its job, drying off her hair and body.

After a good while of sitting in such a tranquil position, Kikyou opened her brown eyes and frowned slightly. Upon seeing light, flashback scenes of the night before flashed through her mind.

_'Naraku _kissed_ me…'_ Kikyou mentally noted, still unsure of how to operate around such a situation. '_What possessed him to do something that ridiculous? Was it _just _to make me upset or did he do it for another ulterior motive?' _

The miko could not help but ponder Naraku's possible motives. Never before had he made such a drastic move towards her. Naraku knew that what he was risking getting retaliated against so why did he decide to do something like that against someone he wanted to kill?

It was then that Kikyou's eyes widened slightly. _'Perhaps… That was _Onigumo's_ will?' _she thought to herself in shock. She then shook her head slightly. _'It cannot be that simple. Onigumo died when Naraku took him over and even if that's his heart, the most hindrance it provided is his inability to destroy me…' _Still, she could not help but wonder if Onigumo's heart had something to do with it. And if not, why _would _Naraku even think to do such a foolish thing to her?

After pondering these thoughts for a while more, Kikyou got up from her sitting position and grabbed her clothes, slipping back into her haori and hakama and securing the red sash. She then retrieved her arrow quiver and bow before deciding to set out again.

Though, there was one thing she was now certain of. Naraku kissed her for reasons she did not yet know of and she intended to find out why.

* * *

A loud yawn was let out as Kagome continued to flip through the pages of a history book. _'I can't believe I'm doing this right now…' _she thought to herself as the people in front of her remained sleeping.

The young woman had woken herself up before sunrise and used the chance to cook her friends breakfast. Since the food was already done and kept warm, Kagome decided to wait out the morning by reading through her books.

While she sat there, she found the spot she bookmarked and began to find out even more information about her friends.

_'The hanyou pinned to a Goshinboku was freed by the reincarnation of the maiden, Kikyou. The woman who freed him was said to have come from another world, much different from their own. The girl was revealed to be the next protector of the Shikon no Tama, but made a horrible mistake, breaking apart the Jewel during a battle. Due to this mistake, she and Inuyasha began their famous journey, creating friendships with a taijiya and her nekomata, a Buddhist monk, and an orphan kitsune. Despite knowledge of all of the others, the reincarnate was never given a name,' _Kagome read to herself before pausing to widen her eyes. "…I-I'm in this book…?" she stuttered out in a hushed gasp. The miko subsequently closed the book and moved onto another one.

Unlike the other book that was large and covered with colored text, this other hardback was small and only wrapped in a black cover. Kagome flipped through the text until she paused, spotting the kanji for Kikyou's name. _'The Forbidden Romance?' _Kagome read the section's title to herself and her interest immediately perked._ 'Is this about Kikyou and Inuyasha?' _At this particular thought, the miko could not help but get slightly depressed.

Kagome knew that Inuyasha's bond to Kikyou was still strong even to this point in time. There was nothing she could do and she was well aware of it. As she paused in her reading, mentally sulking, she defended the doubtful feelings that threatened to break through. _'I'd never think about ruining his relationship with her!' _she declared before her brown eyes glazed over in sadness. Why did thinking about them make her heart ache? If Inuyasha being with Kikyou made him happy then who was she to interfere? The two's relationship was significant enough to be noted in a history textbook! '_I should be able to support him in every decision he makes! I'm his friend and I promised to stay by his side for as long as he wants me here,' _she concluded with forced determination.

She shook her head afterwards. _'Who am I trying to fool? I know that I already _love_ him…' _For some reason, however, the young woman felt a strong urge to read over the words in the chapter despite the small dose of melancholy she felt. Pushing aside her personal feelings, she knew that if she wanted to better understand Inuyasha, she had to find out about his past. Looking back down at the words, she began to run over the words in her mind again.

_'The powerful miko, Kikyou, is most known for her relationship to the hanyou, Inuyasha, but what is often looked over is her _previous_ lover.' _Kagome's eyes widened at this. _'K-Kikyou was in more than one relationship?! So this chapter is just about her?' _The woman was immediately drawn in even more and continued to read.

_'While protecting her village in a battle against a carrion crow, Kikyou had accidentally injured a man with her arrow. This very man was also heavily injured beforehand and collapsed to the ground. Feeling pity for the man and guilt for making his injuries worse, Kikyou opted to take care of him.' _Kagome would have read more if not for hearing the ruffle of cloth and the sound of feet pressing against the dirt. She looked up, and to her utter horror, found Inuyasha kneeling directly in front of her much like a dog would.

The man's fists were pressed into the dirt while his legs were in a type of butterfly stretched perch. His gold eyes peered at her face as if scrutinizing a puzzle.

Kagome felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. "W-what?" she finally asked out in a squeak as she slapped the book closed too quickly for even her own liking. "Y-your breakfast is already ready!"

Inuyasha glanced between Kagome and the book before looking back up at her. "…Why did you get up so early?" he questioned in a tone of suspicion.

The miko's face flustered even more. "N-no reason!" she replied, trying her best to recover from her discomfiture. _'How long has he been watching me?!' _she demanded to herself, hoping that he did not know what she was thinking. Were her facial expressions so obvious?

The hanyou's eyes narrowed slightly, knowing that she was keeping something from him. "Did you find out anything new in those spell books of yours?" he suddenly decided to ask, completely sitting down in front of her by this point.

Kagome's eyes widened before she could stop herself. "N-not m-much!" she stuttered. "I was just surprised to find myself in it! Shippou-chan was right about the rest of us being in these books…"

Inuyasha nodded his head, his eyes still slightly narrowed. "…Then, why did you look upset?"

The miko mentally groaned. _'Great going, Kagome! You just had to think about him with Kikyou!' _she thought, scolding herself in a heavily sarcastic manner. "Oh…about that…" she murmured before snapping into her perky mode. "I'm fine now! Nothing for you to worry about!" The girl forced a smile, not wanting him to worry about her.

"Kagome, don't lie to me," the hanyou warned in a growl, easily knowing when Kagome was not telling the truth.

Kagome heaved a sigh, her smile dissipating. "I was just reading through a section that talked about you and Kikyou," she explained, half-lying. "It's tragic how you and her thought you were betrayed because of Naraku."

Inuyasha continued to suspect her, but decided to drop it, knowing that if he continued to press the issue, he could end up with a face full of dirt. "Keh!" he snorted, crossing his arms. "That's all?" He glanced over at the miko after closing his eyes for a moment. "It's not like you to get so sentimental over that."

The two would have continued their conversation if not for a particular flash of a bushy tail that ran between them and ended up perched on Kagome's shoulder.

Kagome looked over at the kitsune and beamed, very happy that the child had interrupted them. She was not sure of what her response would have been for his question. "Good morning, Shippou-chan!" she chirped.

" 'Morning!" Shippou replied before looking over at the food sitting beside the dying campfire. "You cooked already?"

The miko nodded her head before glancing at the youkai and hanyou. "You two can eat, you know," she noted. "It's just ramen."

"Ah!" the kitsune shouted, scrambling for the food before the hanyou had the chance to eat his fill and then the child's share.

Inuyasha saw Shippou's actions and rolled his eyes, going over to the fire and grabbing his own cup.

Soon after, Miroku and Sango both woke up, surprised to see the rest of the group awake. Even Kirara was sitting beside Shippou, looking up at her master when the two decided to take their seats. During the process of their meal, Kagome's mind began to wander back to the text. _'Kikyou's lover… Does Inuyasha even know?' _ Her eyes wandered over at Inuyasha who was too busy eating. _'Would Kaede-baa-chan at least know? Maybe I should ask her about it? Though, more importantly… _Who_ is it? Is it someone we should know about?'_

By the time she had snapped back into focus, the entire group was staring at her as if she had said something horribly inappropriate out loud. Kagome blinked and then let out a nervous laugh. "W-what? Is there something wrong?"

Miroku arched his eyebrow. "…You seem to look deep in thought today, Kagome-sama," he observed in a meditative voice. "Is there something bothering you?"

Kagome shook her head. "No, it's nothing important! I was just thinking about my project!" It was not exactly a lie since she had to still write that report and stumbling upon this startling revelation was due to her research.

"Ah," the monk murmured, nodding his head. "How is that going?"

"Great!" she replied in a cheerful manner.

After several more moments passed, the group finished their meal and all pitched in to pack up in order to set out on another day.

However, they did not get too far before opposition came.

* * *

Kikyou walked through a forest, continuing deep in thought over what had transpired the previous day. Her shinidaimachuu wisped through the trees around her, acting as if they were draped to her aura.

She paused after passing into a clearing. Her eyes narrowed and her grip tightened around her bow. "Come out, Naraku," she ordered, her tone stern.

A figure wearing a baboon cloak appeared before her, a dark chuckle sounding from his throat. "Nice to see you so soon, Kikyou," he greeted in a taunting manner. "I must say… You left me in _quite_ the situation yesterday."

The miko knocked an arrow into her bow and pulled back on the string within the blink of an eye. "What do you want from me, Naraku?" she demanded, not in the mood for pleasantries or useless banter.

Naraku sneered from behind his mask. "Now, now," he chided. "Is there any reason for you to be so angry? It's not like you, Kikyou."

Kikyou pulled back on the string even more. "Do not test me," she warned, her eyes narrowing even more so.

"Does this have anything to do with what I _did _to _you _yesterday?" the man questioned, deciding to remove his baboon mask, revealing an amused expression that only seemed to increase Kikyou's irritation. "Does it bother you that much?"

The miko's hardened expression said everything that he needed to know. "Naraku, answer a question of mine," she abruptly commanded, relenting on her bow string slightly. It was also at this time that she decided to mentally send her spirit collecting companions away in the case that she would need more souls due to Naraku's future actions.

"If I must," he replied, feigning a sigh.

"_Why _did you decide to _kiss _me?" she demanded, trying not to show her utter disgust as she said the word "kiss." The woman could still remember the feel of his lips against hers and it nearly sickened her. "Surely your ability to control Onigumo's heart hasn't slipped _that_ much?"

Naraku raised his eyebrow in an innocent fashion. "Why do you assume that Onigumo had anything to do with that, Kikyou?" he questioned. "Do you assume that I could not do something of that nature without using his heart?"

Kikyou furrowed her eyebrows at this news. "But why would you do such a foolish thing? Clearly it wasn't as simple of just wanting to upset me…"

The evil hanyou chuckled at her confusion. "I never thought you to be this naïve, Kikyou," he taunted. When she gave no reply, he continued to explain. "As I've told you before; I want to _break _you. If I can't do it physically at the moment, then why not start from the inside and work my way out?"

"Don't be ridiculous," the miko scoffed, growing more angry with each passing moment. "One kiss isn't enough to do anything to me."

"We'll see about that…" Naraku murmured darkly, his sneer in place. "Besides, it won't eventually be _just _to affect _you_."

"What do you mean by that?" Kikyou snapped, her calm nature replaced by a tenseness.

"You'll just have to wait and see, now won't you?"

The young woman did not like the sound of his words, but knew Naraku well enough to know that he would not tell her anything else.

* * *

While Naraku and Kikyou were having their own conversation, the Inuyasha-tachi had to deal with their own problem.

"Kagura!" Inuyasha snarled, half-announcing her presence just as she landed from her oversized feather and replaced the shrunken form in her black hair. "What the hell are you doing here?!"

The young woman saw the hanyou reach for the hilt of his sword and lazily rolled her crimson eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, Inuyasha. I'm not here to fight you," she informed him in her usual sultry tone.

"Then why are you here?" Kagome demanded, her stance also on the defensive with her bow clutched tightly in her hand.

Kagura flicked her eyes towards the young girl and scoffed in annoyance. "This doesn't concern you." Her attention subsequently fell back on the inu-hanyou. "I'm only here to speak with Inuyasha."

The rest of the group gaped in astonishment at this piece of news. It was not common for her to outright admit that she only wanted to speak with Inuyasha.

"Yeah, so, I'm here now!" the young man practically barked, sounding the part of a normal dog. "Tell me what Naraku sent you here for or I'll force you to leave!"

The Naraku incarnate chose to ignore the warning, knowing very well that he would not attack her unless she attacked him first. She pulled out her fan and flicked it open in order to cover up the smirk that lined her lips. "Well… this doesn't necessarily concern me personally, but I _know _you would want to know about this news…" she trailed off, building up to what she had to say in a dramatic fashion.

Inuyasha knew what she was trying to do and gave her a warning growl. "Get to the point!"

"To be blunt, it's about the dead miko, _Kikyou_," Kagura replied, taking heed to his order.

The hanyou's body tensed up immediately upon hearing the woman's name. His eyes widened momentarily before narrowing. "What about Kikyou?" he snarled in a lower voice than usual, approaching Kagura as if he were a predator stalking prey.

The female youkai flicked her fan shut, knowing that she had successfully reeled Inuyasha in like a fish caught on a fishing line. "Well, yesterday, Kikyou had a run in with Naraku," she explained. "She disadvantaged him horribly, but, of course, she didn't make it out unscathed either…"

"Where is she?!" Inuyasha suddenly demanded, immediately thinking that the worst had happened to her.

Kagome stood by and watched the scene with an inward depressed sigh. '_He cares about Kikyou so much… I'm no match for her…' _she thought before quickly shaking her head and scolding herself. There was not any time to think in such a way! She needed to be concerned about Kikyou's state of well-being!

Sango and Miroku shook their heads at the progressing scene, knowing that their friend was suffering from it. However, they also knew it was not their place to interfere.

"She's nearby," Kagura commented dryly, not caring if it was a fib or not. "You'll be lucky if you find her alive."

The hanyou let out a frustrated growl as he took off into the forest without waiting for any of his friends to follow behind him. "Damn it all!" he cursed, not finding any reason to think that the youkai would lie to him.

After Kagura had completed the task she was sent to do, she tossed up her feather and hopped on the enlarged plume.

"Wait!" Kagome suddenly shouted, getting the wind witch's attention. "Is Kikyou really in danger?"

Kagura peered down at the miko and shrugged. "Hell if I'd know," she admitted. "Kikyou _did _battle Naraku yesterday and barely escaped alive. I haven't seen her since." She gave an uncaring scoff. "It's not like she's my problem." And with those cold words, the wind sorceress left the group to themselves.

The miko was now worried. "We need to go after Inuyasha!" she cried, having a feeling that their friend was falling for another one of Naraku's traps.

Miroku and Sango nodded their heads in agreement.

"It's obvious that Kagura was sent here in order to deceive him," the monk observed out loud in an intelligent tone.

"Kirara! Shippou!" the taijiya called out, knowing that the nekomata was watching over the kistune child.

Once the two youkai came out of the bushes, Kirara knew to turn into her larger, saber-toothed form and wait for her most trusted companion to mount her for the forthcoming battle.

Kagome chose to also ride on Kirara's back with Shippou taking to her shoulder while Miroku took to running ahead of them. While moving swiftly through the forest, the young miko grew an expression of worry for Inuyasha. _'I hope Kikyou and him are okay!' _she thought to herself.

* * *

"Kikyou, please be okay!" Inuyasha prayed to himself as he rushed to where Kikyou's scent of graveyard soil and bones led. His expression was etched with concern as he ran to her aid. _'If I failed to protect Kikyou _again_…' _he trailed off in his mind, not even wanting to think about the worst possible outcome.

He immediately halted when he saw a large glowing magenta barrier around a cutoff perimeter of the forest. _'A barrier? Is it Kikyou's?' _he questioned to himself as he pulled Tessaiga out of his scabbard and concentrated his energy to transform it into it's larger curved fang form. As he inspected it more closely, he let out a low growl. "No… it's Naraku's!" he declared. _'Dammit! I'll save you, Kikyou!' _he mentally vowed as his fang began to glow red.

* * *

Naraku and Kikyou were at a standstill. No words were exchanged as Kikyou's hand pulled tighter on her bow string.

"Are you certain that you want to repeat yesterday's actions?" the dark hanyou suddenly taunted, more than prepared to retaliate this time around.

Kikyou was more than aware of Naraku's possible level of preparedness. She was mentally pondering over if the risk of her getting harmed in the process would be worth attacking him. However, her silent plotting became her downfall once the presence of another familiar man was felt, becoming enough to distract her. "I-Inuyasha…!" she gasped, her eyes wide, feeling his demonic aura as the barrier around the perimeter was easily cut down.

What the miko failed to see was Naraku's faint smirk once he knew that Inuyasha had broken through his defenses with much more ease than usual. _'Now for the fun to start…' _ he thought to himself in a tone of sadistic pleasure. Without even directly acknowledging Inuyasha's presence, the great villain took advantage of Kikyou's stupefied stance and shot a dark green tendril forward from his arm, effectively knocking the arrow out of the string and slicing the bow in half in one stroke. Continuing forward with more tentacles, the evil hanyou eventually had Kikyou levitated a few centimeters off of the ground, her wrists and ankles bound tightly by the binds so she could not struggle without the threat of her bones being broken. Her new stance was as if she were chained to an invisible wall behind her, her ankles and wrists spread far apart from each other.

"Damn you!" Kikyou cursed, glaring at Naraku with as much hatred as she could muster. With her wrists being held so tightly and so far apart, she had no chance of moving her hands down to purify him. "You knew he was nearby, didn't you!?" she hissed, immediately picking up on his plan.

"Always quick to see what's going on around you, aren't you, Kikyou-_sama_?" Naraku jeered, mocking the title constantly given to her by other humans. "What's the matter? You usually don't get distracted _this _easily… Is there something about _Inuyasha's _presence that throws you off?"

"You know _very _well why!" she remarked, angered beyond even her normal comprehension.

Inuyasha, who was standing behind the pair, overheard their conversation. He had to admit that it was odd that Kikyou lost all of her concentration when she saw him. It was usually the other way around. However, he was not going to stand by and continue to let Naraku harm Kikyou. "Naraku!" he snarled, holding Tessaiga out in front of him. "Let Kikyou go!"

"Oh? And what will you do about it if I don't, Inuyasha?" the malevolent hanyou mocked, finally turning his head to address Inuyasha's presence.

_'Dammit! How the hell am I supposed to attack when Kikyou's being held hostage like that?' _Inuyasha demanded to himself, trying to think fast. He cast a glance at the miko and tried to measure out the distance given between his line of attacks and her distance from Naraku. _'There's no way I can use the Kaze no Kizu without putting Kikyou in danger!' _

The evil man smirked, knowing that Inuyasha could not do much while he had Kikyou near him. "Why must you stall?" he taunted, sounding as if he were implying the younger man was holding back for less obvious reasons. "Are you waiting for me to make the first move?" To this, he quickly unleashed a torrent of his green tendrils, looking similar to many headless boa constrictors speeding in the direction of the inu-hanyou.

Inuyasha was quick to react, gripping tightly onto his fang as it sliced through the tentacles. However, as soon as one set of the green tendrils were cut, more soon replaced them. The hanyou grew frustrated, continuing to slice through the attacks thrown out at him and knowing that Naraku would never stop until something drastic changed the course of this battle. Feeling sweat drip down his forehead, he idly flashed a glance at the struggling miko still within his enemy's grasp. Something had to be done!

* * *

"There's a barrier here!" Miroku announced, stating the obvious when the rest of the Inuyasha-tachi stopped where they could faintly make out their friend battling Naraku on his own through the wavering layer of magenta.

Kagome's eyes widened when she noticed something else gone horribly wrong. "N-Naraku is holding Kikyou captive!" she yelled, now seeing that Kagura was not completely lying when she claimed that Kikyou was in danger. "We have to find a way in to help Inuyasha!" she added, gripping more tightly onto her bow and pulling an arrow out of her quiver in order to knock it into her bow string.

"Do you think you can break through the barrier, Kagome-chan?" Sango inquired, clutching onto Hiraikotsu's back straps.

"There's no reason not to try!" Kagome enthusiastically declared in response.

Shippou knew to stay out of the way, jumping off of the girl's shoulder and scrambling over to be next to Kirara who was still in her larger form.

Concentrating her energy, the miko narrowed her eyes, staring up at the top of the barrier and wanting to make sure that her arrow did not impale Inuyasha or Kikyou in the process—assuming it _did _manage to break through the shield in the first place.

Pulling back the string, the miko released the arrow, mentally praying that it would work. Unfortunately for her, the arrow enshrouded in white light sailed across the barrier parting a small opening that closed back up as soon as it was touched. It was similar to closing up a zipper from one end while opening it from the other side. Her hopeful glance turned into one of disappointment. "Sorry, guys," she sighed with a slightly bowed head.

The monk knew that it was useless to try his ofuda if Kagome's holy powers had no effect. Thinking upon their situation, he wondered how Kikyou and Inuyasha were allowed to be let into the barrier while the others were kept out. "Kagura was obviously luring Inuyasha out to go see Kikyou-sama," he murmured in thought, looking at the continuing battle within the oversized bubble. "However, she was not lying about Kikyou-sama either. Something isn't right about this…"

Sango nodded her head in agreement at Miroku's words. "That bastard probably lured Inuyasha out here so he could rub Kikyou-sama's capture in his face," she growled, never being one to like Naraku's wicked methods.

"Do you think Naraku's barrier was put up before or after Inuyasha got here?" Kagome suddenly asked the intelligent pair.

"Why do you ask?" Miroku questioned, turning to raise an eyebrow at his friend.

"I'm thinking about this…" the miko murmured. "Naraku's stopping us from getting in to interfere on purpose. That seems obvious enough, but I think it's more than just to trap Inuyasha. There's something he plans to do to Kikyou in front of him and he knows we could ruin his plans to do that."

The monk's eyes widened slightly, finding himself approving of his friend's theory. "That seems _very _possible considering how Naraku is…"

The entire group turned to watch the fight, hoping that somehow, their most despised enemy would not be able to get away with his dark tactics.

* * *

_Huff._

_Huff. _

Inuyasha panted heavily, his steps becoming more sluggish than usual. He glowered spitefully at Naraku as he kept Tessaiga close to himself. _'This is getting me nowhere! Even Kikyou stopped struggling to get free!' _He mentally snarled, knowing if he continued on like this, he would surely pass out due to exhaustion. Besides, all he was really doing was self-defense against Naraku's tentacles. It was not as if he were actually making progress on harming his adversary.

"Tired already, Inuyasha?" Naraku taunted with his usual amused smirk in place. It seemed like he had eyes everywhere, managing to keep a tight hold over the undead miko while he continued to battle Inuyasha. He knew to always keep his guard up from both sides, used to fighting multiple enemies at once.

Kikyou gave the dark hanyou a glower of her own. "What are you planning to do to me?" she finally spat when attacking came to a standstill.

"I was honestly thinking to kidnap you," the evil hanyou admitted, glancing over at Kikyou with a sense of eerie calm. To anyone else not knowing about their current situation, Naraku spoke to her akin to conversing about the weather.

"Don't you…even _think…_about it, you…_bastard_!" Inuyasha snarled with narrowed amber eyes. If not due to how badly he was panting, he would have sounded more threatening.

"But there is _one_ thing I absolutely _must _tell you, Inuyasha," Naraku practically purred, turning his sights back onto the hanyou. "And I'm _very _certain that Kikyou would want to pay attention to this, as well…"

The miko's irritated countenance was immediately replaced with one of rare panic. Her eyes widened while her already pale face whitened even more so. "…Y-You wouldn't!" she gasped.

Upon seeing the shock on Kikyou's face, a sickening knot formed in the inu-hanyou's stomach. He tried not to show his surprise, but failed miserably. _'This must be really bad…' _he mentally concluded. He knew that few things ever roused the miko's emotions in such a manner. "W-what the hell are you talking about?!" he snapped, half-afraid of what Naraku would say to him.

"I'm not sure of how much Kagura mentioned to you about the previous day…" the malicious man murmured, his lips cracking into a wicked grin. "But Kikyou visited my castle of her own accord…"

Inuyasha's stare broke away to his ex-lover's, wondering what Naraku was driving to. Why would Kikyou go see Naraku? Surely, she was not trying to cooperate with him! Then again, since she was being held captured in front of him, it was not as if the two were suddenly allies.

"Naraku! Stop!" Kikyou shouted, beginning to struggle again. She did not want Inuyasha to know about how her most hated enemy tainted her! She knew how he would react!

The evil hanyou chuckled at Kikyou's futile attempts to distract him, tightening his hold on her wrists to the point of making her cry out in pain. He did not seem to pay any mind to the other hanyou growling at him for the agony he had just placed Kikyou through. "…And we shared a _passionate_ kiss."

The undead miko's head bowed as she shook with silent anger. _'Naraku _will_ pay for this…' _she vowed to herself, feeling her powers flare within her.

Inuyasha froze, feeing the knot in his stomach grow. His mind went blank as he tried to process what Naraku had just said to him.

Kikyou and Naraku kissed.

Naraku and _Kikyou_ kissed.

His _ex-lover _and _most hated enemy kissed_!

The inu-youkai could only pray that it was not mutual between the pair. It did not seem that way based on what was going on now, and for that much, he was thankful for. However, that brought him to his most commonplace emotion. Rage.

A low snarl that spelled out certain death ripped from Inuyasha's throat when he focused his sights onto Naraku. "You… You _fucking __**bastard**_!" he roared, charging forward with Tessaiga reared back. Due to his fiery anger, his speed increased, jumping forward to cut through Naraku before he had the chance to send out more tentacles.

The evil hanyou's eyes widened in supposed pain as the sword tore through his abdomen and was pulled back out, drawing what seemed to be blood in his case. Since Naraku seemed surprised by this burst of power, he dropped Kikyou's body unceremoniously to the ground.

"Move out of the way, Kikyou!" Inuyasha ordered in a growl, clearly not in the mood to be argued with.

It had been a while since the undead woman had seen her ex-lover so upset. She knew that he would not be happy, but this level of fury was something that still managed to shock her. "Inuyasha…" she murmured, not arguing with the young man and backing away. At this point in time, she was more than willing to watch and enjoy Naraku being ripped to shreds.

Naraku frowned slightly when Inuyasha reared Tessaiga back to charge up for a final assault. Casting a glance at the miko, he opted to get in a low blow seeing as she was still within reach of his tendrils. However, the tentacle poised to ram her through immediately halted seemingly of its own separate mindset. _'What is this?' _he inwardly growled, now feeling his entire body freeze up as his heart pulsed heavily against his chest.

A loud laugh sounded through his head. _"Surprised, Naraku?" _the voice jeered. _"I told you before; I won't let you harm her! I'm keeping my end of the bargain!" _

The dark youkai scowled at the voice in his mind. _'Damn you, Onigumo!' _Naraku growled, turning his head to see his enemy slamming the sword down into the earth.

"Kaze no Kizu!" Inuyasha yelled, unleashing the torrent of yellow wind blades from the blade and sending them in his adversary's direction. As the attack tore through the ground, a ragged dirt trail was left behind appearing like the aftermath of oversized knives being dragged through the earth.

Naraku felt his flesh being cut apart in every which direction from as the Kaze no Kizu swirled around him. Since he still _did _have a heart, he knew that if he did not escape now, he would die. Before any more of the backlash could set in and hit him, the evil hanyou gathered black masses of shouki around him and lifted himself into the sky with whatever strength he had left.

"I'm not letting you get away!" Inuyasha snarled, rearing his sword back for a follow-up attack. Unfortunately, by the time more of the yellow light streaked up at the target, all the inu-hanyou managed to hit were wisps of miasma. The young man's eye twitched out of irritation. "Dammit!" he cursed. It was not as if it were the first time Naraku had evaded him or everyone else he knew. The only satisfaction he got out of it was knowing that he had injured the bastard badly.

Kikyou glared up at the sky, but was glad that Naraku had finally left her alone for the time being. She was no fool. She could tell that he had intentions to harm her when he faced her form and aimed a tendril towards her. She also noticed how he tensed up without warning. For some reason, the undead miko knew just what, or rather, _who_ had caused the evil man's malfunction.

Tessaiga was transformed back into its rusted, dull state and returned back into its scabbard by its owner. The hanyou then looked over at Kikyou after that was done with. "Kikyou…" he murmured, knowing that there were more pressing matters to deal with rather than just brooding over Naraku's recent successful escape.

* * *

By the time Inuyasha worked to start a conversation with Kikyou, the barrier that Naraku had set up had been dissipated.

The hanyou's group prepared to walk over to express their relief that the pair was all right, but stopped due to the expression on Inuyasha's face.

Kagome's usual energetic brown eyes dulled the moment she saw the sight. Her gut twisted as she felt her heart begin to pound like a metric meter set at a fast pace. "…We should leave them alone and go set up camp," she suggested in a quiet voice, resisting the urge to use her bangs to cover her eyes.

Everyone standing behind her, including Kirara, inwardly cringed at her tone.

"Yes, why don't we go make camp!" Miroku added in agreement, knowing that at least he and Sango would have to comfort the miko during the night.

Sango stifled a sigh, climbing onto her large feline companion before Kagome and Shippou got their chance to do the same.

As they lifted up into the sky with the monk running below them in the forest, the young miko continued to appear depressed. _'Who am I kidding? As long as Kikyou is around, Inuyasha will never notice or return my feelings…' _she thought to herself sullenly.

* * *

The pair never seemed to notice Inuyasha's group leave as a level of silence settled over between them.

The undead miko's expression softened slightly when she finally turned towards her old lover. She could find no words to properly explain how shamed she was for not being able to prevent Naraku from kissing her.

Inuyasha let out a frustrated growl, taking steps forward until he was directly in front of her. "Why did you go face Naraku by yourself?" he demanded, sounding as if he were preparing to scold her.

Kikyou's countenance hardened slightly, almost expecting such a chiding. "As I've told you before, Inuyasha; Naraku cannot kill me because he has the heart of Onigumo beating within him," she stated in a colder voice than she meant to have.

"Were you looking at the same bastard I saw?!" the hanyou fumed suddenly, never having snapped at the miko while she was in this form until now. An outright scowl lined Inuyasha's face, glaring irritably at Kikyou's flabbergasted expression. He could not help but become unnerved knowing that Naraku had claimed the lips that were once only his. "He was preparing to kidnap you and seemed poised to kill you just a few moments ago!"

"Kidnapping me was a bluff from the start," the undead woman stated with a slight scoff. "I imagine that his main goal was to tell you what had happened between me and him the previous day." Thinking back to the way he "attempted" to kill her, Kikyou explained, "Even if he tried to kill me as he has done many times over, he still cannot do it."

The young man let out another growl. "Yeah, but you're his biggest fear! You've even admitted it! If you keep intentionally endangering yourself, one day he _will _have the ability to destroy you again!" He honestly thought that the woman would have figured that out by now!

Kikyou found her cold eyes narrowing at the hanyou, finding herself growing annoyed with her ex-lover's persistence. "What do you suggest I do, Inuyasha?" she found herself asking in a demanding voice. "I can't very well sit still and _wait _for him to destroy me!"

"No, you can't…" Inuyasha trailed off before his gaze hardened even more than it already was. He then declared, "But you could let me protect you from him! You act like I'm out to do you more harm than good when I ask you to rely on me!"

The woman's irritated stare wavered similar to that of a stone causing ripples in a pond. Her independent spirit did not allow her to fully depend upon another's help. She had done that twice in her life and got hurt in the long run. Unable to look Inuyasha straight in the face for much longer, she turned her head away. "I won't allow myself to be taken advantaged of again. There's no need for you to worry," she assured him in a gentler tone than she was used to utilizing.

The hanyou snorted. "I never thought that even _you _could have your stupid moments," he remarked bluntly. "I know the moments we had together will never be made up. I'm not protecting you out of obligation nor am I protecting you in hopes of being with you in _that _way again. I'm doing it because I care about you. I _always_ will." He then noticed her looking away from him and pushed back the urge to let out aggravated huff. "Even if you're against my support, I'm still going to prevent letting Naraku kill you for a second time." His hands formed into fists at his sides as he continued to speak. "I don't know what I'd do if I had to go through that type of loss again!"

Despite half-expecting Inuyasha to say this sort of thing to her, Kikyou could not help the surprise that showed on her face at the words. Since she felt shamed by what had transpired the previous day, it did not help her mental state to hear such things from the hanyou's mouth. "Inuyasha…" she spoke in a soft tone, unable to say much else.

Acting on impulse, the inu-youkai pulled the undead miko into his tight and protective embrace. "I know that you didn't mean for what happened yesterday to occur. You shouldn't have to feel guilty about it," he murmured close to her ear.

The miko's eyes widened even more so at his words. Even when he directly addressed the topic of the kiss, it did not seem to alleviate her guilt. Due to this, she pressed her hands upon his chest and made an attempt to push him back. "Inuyasha, _please_," she pleaded, her usual strong cold defenses crumbling down around her.

The young man's only response was to tighten his embrace around her. Growling slightly, he vowed, "I won't let Naraku touch you again!"

Kikyou knew that if she were not already dead, the former shell of herself would have been crying by this point in time. She shut her eyes, slowly giving into the hanyou's rapture, embracing him in return. She knew it was pointless to listen to Inuyasha's words because he could not always be around her when she sought to do things in her own way, but momentarily allowed herself to be humored by them.

After a few moments of comfortable silence, Kikyou pulled away from her old lover. It was then that with a stern countenance, Inuyasha asked, "Would you consider joining my group?"

The undead miko shook her head, trying hard to get her emotions back under her wall of ice. "You already have enough people to watch over. Having me there will only make you even more of a walking target than usual," she argued, not wanting to fool herself into believing that a life by Inuyasha's side would even be remotely possible. "If Naraku attacked me and your companions, he would have it easy by destroying all at us in one turn."

"How would I know if you're in danger if we're not near each other?" the hanyou demanded, seeming desperate not to allow Naraku to harm her.

Kikyou gave the young man the smallest of smirks. "If I'm truly in need of your protection, I will send my shinidaimachuu for you," she answered in a simple tone as if it were common sense. "I'm not going to allow him to take advantage of me in that manner for another time."

A part of the inu-hanyou wanted to continue pestering her about the matter, but he chose to drop the subject. He knew the miko well enough to know that once her mind was set on something, it was near impossible to change it. The concern he felt for her allowed his expression to turn distraught once more.

Noticing Inuyasha's countenance, Kikyou stifled a sigh and lifted her cold hand to press against his warm cheek. An old spark ran through her body, making her feel alive for a split second. "Please don't lose sleep over me. I'm able to fend for myself," she murmured, looking him directly in his smoldering amber eyes. "You should feel more worried over my reincarnation."

Upon hearing her words, Kagome's name passed through his mind. That alone was enough to prevent him from placing his hand over the hand resting against his cheek. He knew that by the time he got back to camp, he would have to deal with a depressed and irate miko. That was enough to make him feel guilty, realizing that she had seen at least part of what happened between him and Kikyou. Clearing his head of Kagome when Kikyou pulled her hand away, he asked, "…So, are you leaving now?"

Kikyou managed a small nod of her head. "I must work on getting a new weapon before nightfall," she remarked, remembering how Naraku broke her bow. Closing her eyes momentarily, she mentally summoned her soul collecting companions. Once her ghostly white shinidaimachuu began to sliver in the air around them, she distanced herself from the hanyou and prepared to walk into the forest. Before completely leaving Inuyasha behind, she shot one glance back at him. _'I apologize, Inuyasha…' _she mentally whispered, sorry for so many things that she could not possibly think through at the moment.

After the undead miko finally left him alone, Inuyasha shook his head, letting out a frustrated snarl. "I'll never forgive you for this, Naraku!" he declared, adding the evil man's latest stunts onto his growing list of why he wanted to destroy him. As he began to pace back to his pack, he let out a sigh.

_'I'm sorry for not being able to be there for you sooner, Kikyou…' _

_

* * *

_

A/N: I hope this long chapter makes up for my very late update to this fic! I worked hard on this considering that it gave me a lot of writer's block!

To those freaking out about the Inuyasha/Kikyou moment, don't worry! It's still going to be Naraku/Kikyou all the way! I just needed a good reaction from Inuyasha to keep this fic the way you all apparently like it; in character and realistic.

I hope you all like how the Inu-tachi's involvement (mainly Inuyasha and Kagome) is turning out! The next chapter will be sure to delve more into Onigumo and Kikyou's past to begin unraveling many unanswered questions.

I hope I won't take too long for the next chapter!

Please review!

Ja ne!


	5. Revelations

**Disclaimer:**

Turtlequeen2: Sorry I've been late on writing everything lately!

Kikyou: -raises eyebrow- Is it due to this 'college' still?

Turtlequeen2: -nods- You got it! Well, that and… the rising addiction to making AMVs for YouTube…

Kikyou: "AMVs"? "YouTube"?

Turtlequeen2: -sighs- I don't even know where to begin on those explanations…

Anyways! I thank the following reviewers: Midoriko, Naraku's Dinky, xstillxdaydreamingx, and Unimagined!

I don't own Inuyasha! I only give Rumiko Takahashi's characters nightmares! -smiles-

WARNING: LIME CONTAINED BELOW!

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Revelations**

Upon returning to the others, Inuyasha soon found himself in another awkward situation. As par usual when he stayed with Kikyou, Kagome grew depressed and quiet while the others in the group chose to flock around her as if the hanyou had done something horribly wrong to betray her. Inuyasha withheld a sigh, walking towards his friends and risking to hear the scolding he usually got.

When she sensed his presence, Kagome's eyes looked up at him, the brown hue showing the wavering pain she always felt when he spent time with Kikyou. Despite how her eyes appeared, she managed to put on her strongest smile, attempting to put on a happy mask since she knew it was not something he could control in the current situation. "Is Kikyou all right?" she asked in a quiet voice.

"Yeah…" Inuyasha trailed off, not knowing if it was best to discuss the anger he felt upon finding out that Naraku had kissed Kikyou.

Pushing aside his urge to scold the hanyou, Miroku stepped forward. "Inuyasha, for what purpose did Naraku come out into the open like that? It seems odd for him to harm Kikyou-sama without reason," he remarked in an perceptive voice.

"He wasn't there to kill Kikyou," the hanyou began, feeling his claws dig into his palms at the remembrance at what both Kikyou and Naraku said to him. "…He was targeting me and was using Kikyou as bait."

Kagome's eyes widened, her darkened mood lessening when she heard this news. "What do you mean?" she pressed insistently.

Inuyasha's head bowed with his bangs covering his eyes like a shield. He did not want them to see how upset he truly was. "He wanted me to start doubting Kikyou by telling me about how he _kissed _her." The word "kissed" was said with such revulsion that it was a wonder that the hanyou did not gag as he spoke.

Gasps sounded through the group, all of them truly shocked at Naraku's actions.

"I-is that really true?" Sango broke in.

"Based on Kikyou's reaction?" Inuyasha half-snapped back. "Yes." It seemed that with every word he spoke, his mood began to grow more and more dark.

The monk heaved a sigh. "I knew Naraku had a strange relationship with Kikyou-sama, but I would have never expected that he'd become so _forward _with her…"

The hanyou's face tilted back up and pinned Miroku with a glare so fierce that it made chills run up the poor monk's spine.

Trying his best to not show his fear, the monk replied, "Please calm yourself, Inuyasha." Shaking his head, he added, "I was merely making an observational statement."

"Yeah, well, keep your damn observations to yourself!" Inuyasha snapped in a growl, turning away from the others and stomping towards a clearing in order to clear his mind.

A breath he did not even know he was holding escaped the older man's mouth as soon as the hanyou left the area.

Sango shook her head. "I wouldn't have stopped him if he chose to hit you," she grumbled in a huff.

"Why am I suddenly the enemy?" Miroku murmured, feigning a dramatic tone. "I swear that it was just a simple, observational statement!"

"Coming from you, one should always doubt your motives for speaking," the taijiya snorted, moving Hiraikotsu from her arms to up against a nearby tree.

Kagome chose to remain silent during the loud commotion, looking after the path Inuyasha took with a frown on her face. Despite how she was still depressed with him being with Kikyou, she also became worried about the hanyou's condition. How could one cope after learning that their enemy kissed their previous lover?

Noticing this silence, Shippou, perched on Kagome's shoulder, jumped off and moved in front of the miko in order to get her attention. "Did you find out anything new in that spell book?" he asked innocently, his tone truly like a curious child.

The miko blinked out of her sulking trance after hearing the kitsune's question. "The history book?" she murmured in thought before realizing that she had not told the others about what she found out. "Oh yeah!" Her eyes brightened with excitement, reaching behind her for the book bag she had set down. "It turns out that Shippou-chan was right about everyone else being in the book!"

Even with Inuyasha's condition being in the back of everyone's minds, the others found themselves growing curious about what Kagome had to say.

"Well… so far, it just gives the basics of who each of us are and what we've been doing on this journey," the miko explained, flipping through the pages of the book and searching for the chapter she found the information in.

"We're truly that noteworthy?" Miroku murmured in surprise, deciding to take a seat across from the younger woman.

"I suppose so," Kagome answered, her lips pursed in thought. "In terms of the book saying this is all pretty much a children's folklore, all of us have major parts to play within it."

Thinking back to what had happened between Naraku and Kikyou, Sango frowned as she took her spot beside her best friend. "Is there anything about Kikyou in there?"

The miko noticeably twitched when the question was asked. It was as if the very name "Kikyou" was enough to send her body into a convulsion. "Y-yeah… w-why do you ask?" she stuttered out nervously.

Everyone around Kagome—excluding Kirara who now sat in Sango's lap—raised an eyebrow at her reaction as if she had just sprouted wings.

"Is there something you're not telling us, Kagome-sama?" Miroku questioned in a stern voice, noticing that she had reacted in a similar way the last time the subject was brought up.

Kagome could not help but silently curse Miroku's great skills of deduction as she knew that continuing to avoid the topic would get her no where. "Well… I found out something about Kikyou that I'm not even sure Inuyasha knows about…" she quietly mumbled to emphasize that she did not want the hanyou to find out any time soon.

"Like what?" Shippou questioned, hopping onto Miroku's shoulder as he spoke.

"…Kikyou apparently had a lover _before_ Inuyasha," the miko explained.

"Do you know who it is…?" Miroku pressed, trying his best to recover from such a shocking piece of information.

"Not a clue," Kagome admitted with a shake of her head. "But I'll look into it some more tonight."

Seeming to get what her friend was trying to do, Sango sighed. "Since Inuyasha doesn't seem to be in a good mood already, it's probably best to keep quiet about this topic for now."

"Right," Miroku hummed in agreement.

Thus began the very long and tiring night for the Inuyasha-tachi.

* * *

Crimson eyes narrowed at the masses of youkai flesh swarming about, mentally cursing everyone who caused him to be in such a weakened state. Due to Inuyasha's recent attack on him, Naraku now had to reconstruct his body in the dark confines of his underground chambers yet again. It was quite irritating since he had to waste entire nights just to discard useless pieces of his body and incorporate more valuable parts like the sections of a puzzle. Because of Inuyasha and Onigumo's interference, he had to choose his night of weakness weeks earlier than scheduled.

He was idly glad that he sent Kanna and Kagura out to run errands for him so that he would not be bothered by anyone. However, just when he thought he could enjoy his version of peace in such a chaotic setting, a voice pierced through his consciousness.

"_Well, well, well…_" the voice mocked. "_The great Naraku brought to his knees all because of a voice in his head… Such a shame!_"

Naraku's eyes narrowed despite how the being insulting him was within his own body. "You know very well that you were the one who caused me to freeze up," he growled.

"_If you had just left Kikyou alone like I told you to, I wouldn't have done that…_" Onigumo trailed off, the sigh the voice gave sounding more like a chastising.

The dark hanyou felt a rising temptation to try removing the spider scar on his back yet again in a way to satisfy his anger against his human half. "I will find some way to discard you from my body," he promised to his inward enemy.

"_Even if you do, I still will win eventually!_" Onigumo declared in a tone of absolute certainty.

Naraku did not like the thought of Onigumo winning over him. It was not comforting at all. However, at the rate he was going, so long as the human part of him still existed, he would be limited at what he could do.

"_Since you're indisposed of at the moment…I might as well provide you with some form of entertainment until you get better…_" the voice said with a dark laugh that could have rivaled Naraku's own.

Unable to fight back due to all of the energy being exerted to get his body back into order, Naraku had no choice but to give in. His eyes fell closed as vivid mental images began to roll through his mind like a dream.

* * *

**FLASHBACK**

* * *

Soon after Kikyou and Onigumo had had their first kiss, the two became nearly inseparable. Everyone in the village grew worried about their miko's ability to protect them at first due to how distracted she seemed to be when he was around. However, once proving that she could still maintain her duties, their concerns ceased and they became supportive of Kikyou's newfound relationship.

Everyone, including Kaede, could see how much happier the young woman became with Onigumo at her side. She no longer felt alone in her struggles and had Onigumo along to support and aid her in everything she did. Even if he was a former bandit, the defenses Kikyou had put up around herself had since crumbled around her, allowing him to advance on her. Not only did she not stop him; she _welcomed_ his advances.

After defeating youkai on the outskirts of the village, Kikyou walked towards the river that ran through Musashi's Domain. Upon seeing Onigumo sitting in his usual spot along the river's bank, a warm smile lined her lips. "Kiyoshi!" Kikyou called out in an innocent tone, saying the name loud enough to draw attention from both the former bandit and the villagers in the nearby farming fields.

Spotting Kikyou standing near him, Onigumo flashed her a small smirk and patted a spot in the grass. It was a silent invitation.

Accepting the invitation, the miko sat down next to him with her smile still in place. She removed her quiver of arrows and set both her quiver and bow on the ground beside her. Lowering her voice so that only he could hear her, she remarked, "Did you do anything productive today, Onigumo?" It sounded like she was teasing him more than anything else.

The older man nodded his head, knowing her intents. "I actually helped rebuild a damaged hut, today," he informed her. "So, yes, I believe I did something productive."

"That's good to know," Kikyou remarked, letting out a small laugh that mirrored he sound of twinkling bells.

Noticing that the miko's left hand was left between their bodies, Onigumo softly grasped onto it and held it within his own hand.

Still not quite used to his rather open displays of affection, the miko gingerly squeezed the hand back and tried her best not to allow a faint color of red dust her cheeks. "Is there something you wish to do today?" She looked straight at him as she spoke.

Onigumo glanced over Kikyou's face and could tell that she was trying hard not to avert her head away from his. It was quite amusing to say the least. To know that even the "great" Kikyou could behave like a normal woman when being treated with such intimate kindness from a man. Holding in the urge to chuckle at the observation, he shook his head. "Just spending time with you is enough for me," he admitted. "You hardly get time to relax and I wouldn't want to be selfish enough to take up your time for rest."

Kikyou's lips twitched into a frown at his words. "Are you certain?" she questioned, thinking she, herself, was being the harsh one for not being able to do more things with him.

"Yes, very certain," the older man confirmed with a smile.

Not wanting to start an argument with Onigumo, the miko let out a small sigh and shifted herself slightly so that she could lean against his shoulder. At this innocent point in time where their relationship had just begun to blossom, she had no idea of how addicted she would soon become to his very being.

* * *

Kikyou had no clue how this situation had come about. How had she allowed herself to succumb so completely to such a man? Despite knowing what he was, she still continued to let herself fall for him.

One moment the two had been talking Kikyou's possible one week absence from the village in order to vanquish a youkai terrorizing another area and the next, the miko found herself pulled into a passionate kiss with the man she of whom she had grown fond of.

Since Kaede had taken to stay at a sick villager's hut in order to provide proper care, Kikyou and Onigumo had found themselves alone for the night.

It was not long before Kikyou found herself on her back with the older man holding his body above her by using his arms. "O-Onigumo!" she gasped out in a hushed voice, her eyes wide. Despite how her mind screamed for her to now allow him to continue, her body did nothing to stop his actions.

"Kikyou… I _love _you," Onigumo murmured, never before saying such words to her. "I don't think I could stand it if you didn't feel the same way for me." His dark eyes glimmered with genuine emotion, proving that he was sincere in his words.

"…W-what brought this about?" the miko asked, still not moving away from him. She was completely shocked by such a declaration. She had never heard a man tell her such words since her father died when she was a child. She was unsure of how to react, feeling more like an innocent child rather than a mature, young woman.

"Even if you'll be gone for a week, I can't help but think about the possibility of you getting harmed. I would not be able to bare it if something bad were to happen to you," the ex-bandit admitted in a softened tone. "If you must go, I want you to know of my feelings for you beforehand."

Getting enough of her wits back together, Kikyou raised her hand up to cup his cheek tenderly. "Onigumo…" she gasped out. "I'll only be gone a week… there is no need for you to worry this much over me…"

"I know…" he sighed, calming his nerves but still not moving from his spot on top of her. "But I'd much rather tell you this now since I've been thinking about it for a while…"

Kikyou flashed him a smile, finding herself happy about hearing such words. "…I…I love you, also," she slowly admitted in a murmur, glad that there was no light so that her heated cheeks could be kept concealed from his eyes. Her words held truth and the innocence that she was beginning to grow accustomed to.

Feeling his heart speed up with happiness, the older man could not hold himself back any longer. Once her hand moved down from his face, Onigumo bent down to capture her lips in a demanding kiss.

Still not quite used to such passion, Kikyou gently began to kiss back, parting her lips slightly when his tongue brushed across her lower one. A small sigh was released from her as he began to entangle tongues with her.

Onigumo could easily tell the girl was inexperienced due to how timid her mouth moved against his. Every slight tilt of his head gave her silent permission to return the affection he gave her. However, she only timidly wrapped her arms around his neck while allowing him to lead in every other turn.

Before either one noticed, clothing began to be loosened and were cast off to the side. Black tresses were interlocked as breath heightened to needy pants.

The darkness of the night made sure to keep Kikyou's flushed face unnoticed to Onigumo as he kissed down her porcelain body. He made sure to be gentle while he ravished her innocent and supple flesh. He even paused, looking up at her beautiful face when her eyelids fell shut due to the bliss she felt.

Kikyou could not believe her own body was reacting in such a shameless way! She had to admit that despite the tough image she fought to maintain, she felt completely exposed and vulnerable under Onigumo's body. And even after knowing this, she did not resist his advances. A side of herself found this activity to be enticing and almost _liberating_. With every arch of her back or moan that escaped her lips, the miko found herself giving up more of herself to this carnal sin.

When it came time to take the rest of her innocence away, he positioned himself just right and warned her about the pain that was sure to follow.

Upon feeling him slowly beginning to enter her, Kikyou's eyes widened with shock. She felt as if something were tearing through her abdomen. To displace the pain she felt, the fingers gripping onto Onigumo's back dug into the skin. Her nails created tiny moon-like crescents into his back as tears pricked the back of her eyes. "O-Onigumo…" she whispered out, trying not to whimper as she did so. It was such an odd thing for her to undergo. Despite the agony she experienced at such contact, she felt a level of intimacy to him that could not be matched by anything else.

Perhaps she enjoyed this so much because it was able to make her feel more human and fragile than she was allowed to feel as a miko of her village. For once in her life, she was able to let herself go and allow someone else to take control. The closer she pulled him towards herself, the more she realized that she was afraid to release him. She felt that if she had, he would disappear from her side in an instant.

After the two succumbed to exhaustion, Onigumo moved Kikyou to the makeshift futon set in the back of the hut. He then moved in beside her and pulled his kimono over them for warmth. He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her shivering body, pulling her snug against his chest. Once he managed to catch his breath, he found himself smiling. "Kikyou…I wish we could stay like this forever…" he whispered quietly. He spoke the truth. He never wanted to let go of this miko because he knew what her duties called for her to do in the future. Despite how much he cared for this woman, it was often that he felt miles away from her due to the nature of her work.

Kikyou rotated her body to face towards him and peered up at his face. A sheen of sweat was barely noticeable by moonlight, but she found that he could have looked more beautiful than he did at this moment. Once she heard his words, she nodded her head in agreement. "I wish the same…" It seemed odd for her to be in such a position. It was as if he were protecting her by the way he held her. She had not felt such comfort since her mother was alive.

"I love you, Kikyou…" Onigumo repeated, every ounce of his being meaning such words.

"I… love you, too, Onigumo…" the miko responded before leaning up and lightly brushing her lips against his in a chaste kiss. She now knew that what she was experiencing was true love and her pounding heart could not have been more erratic as she finally gave into her exhaustion and fell into a deep slumber.

* * *

**END FLASHBACK**

* * *

Kikyou's eyes blinked open from her reverie, trying her best not let out a gasp out of shock. The moment she allowed her body to rest from walking was the worst possible mistake she could have done with her current state of mind. Once she had closed her eyes, her mind replayed the images from her past with Onigumo. The past she longed to forget ever existed.

Her shinidaimachuu slithered around her in a circular dance, trying to help soothe over the undead woman's lack of calm.

Seeing this gesture caused Kikyou to lift up her hand so that one of them could perch into it much like a bird would rest on a wrist. "You are worried about me, aren't you?" she remarked to the first creature that volunteered itself to rest upon her. She did not even need to see it outwardly react to know the answer. Her eyes rippled to show momentary guilt before her emotions dissolved back into faint panic.

Now that Inuyasha knew about the kiss, she could only hope that Naraku would not divulge even more information to the hanyou. With Onigumo's heart, it would not be a surprise if the evil man had direct insight into the ex-bandit's memories. The gods only knew what would happen if Inuyasha ever found out that she had once been Onigumo's lover. Kikyou inwardly shivered at the thought.

Once the shinidaimachuu flew away from her, the miko's eyes narrowed. "I must destroy Naraku before that can happen," she concluded as she pushed herself off of the tree she was resting against. She hated the fact that she had to cover up her past from the hanyou, but knew that it would be for the best. Inuyasha already hated Naraku for more reasons that he could count. He did not need to add Kikyou's past relationship with Naraku's human self to the list.

"I will not allow Naraku the chance of destroying me," she added, beginning to walk with her soul collectors trailing behind her like a curtain. Her grip tightened on her bow. Surely, Naraku would pay for his treachery.

* * *

Kagome gawked at the page she read over in her history book. She reread it to double-check her ability to read the kanji right, but reached the unfortunate conclusion that she knew how to read correctly. She could feel her heart pounding against her chest as she tried not to panic and scream out what she knew to the rest of the group that was currently sleeping.

There was a reason that the romance between Kikyou and this other man was forbidden. The man that the miko was with was none other than _Onigumo; _the man who was now consumed by their most bitter enemy!

She read over the paragraph again. _'The maiden Kikyou had decided to aid Onigumo even after finding out that he had been a rogue bandit. Wanting to hide his identity from the villagers, Kikyou had given him the name Kiyoshi. It was at this time that Onigumo had began to shed his former life of crime to enjoy a more peaceful time with the miko.'_

Kagome could not believe this! She had heard before Naraku could not harm Kikyou due to his human heart but how far down did their past relationship go? And how did Inuyasha never know about this? If he did know, she was sure that it would have come up in conversation long beforehand. Glancing over at the sleeping hanyou, she shook her head. There was no way she could tell him this! She knew that Inuyasha would go into a panicked frenzy and run the group ragged to search for Naraku even more desperately.

Not to mention, she could not bare to imagine the look of betrayal and hurt on his face that would come from learning a secret that Kikyou never told him about. It was understandable about why Kikyou would have wanted to keep such a relationship a secret, however. Being the lover of a former bandit was taboo enough for a miko of her standing. And now especially that such a bandit became their most hated enemy, it would be foolish of Kikyou to just expose her dark truth to people who trust her enough to know that she was not an ally of Naraku's.

"…I can't tell anyone about this…" she murmured to herself in a stern tone. However, with this declaration, she also told herself that speaking to Kaede would now be of utmost importance.

Kagome knew one thing for certain. She no longer thought that Onigumo held a powerless role in the present day.

* * *

A/N: Before people get all technical with the POV the flashback "should" have been in, I should note that three different characters were thinking over it at the same time. So, in that sense, I just stuck with omniscient for the more cinematic feel. In the future, if it's just one character thinking over a flashback, I will put it in their POV only.

I'm sorry that my updates are so far and in between these days! I've just been busy with so much other stuff! I hope you guys still want to read this fic! I do plan on finishing it! I already have the next two chapters plotted out in my mind.

Please review if you liked this chapter!

Ja ne!


	6. Discoveries

**Disclaimer:**

Turtlequeen2: Woot! I'm back sooner than I thought!

Kikyou: …And we should be happy about this?

Turtlequeen2: Of course!

Inuyasha: I don't appreciate how you're exploiting Kikyou like this!

Turtlequeen2: -scoffs- So you'd rather me be exploiting you and Kagome instead?

Inuyasha: Yeah! -pauses- I mean, no!

Kikyou: -smirks- Don't worry about me, Inuyasha. I'll be able to take care of myself.

Turtlequeen2: See? You should carry yourself like that in my fics, Inuyasha!

Okay… before Inuyasha kills me, I shall thank the following reviewer: katana sohma-demon girl! I always love your reviews!

I do not own Inuyasha. Rumiko Takahashi does. I just like torturing her characters!

**

* * *

**

**Chapter 5**

**Discoveries**

The morning after Kagome's devastating discovery did not start out well at all. The miko barely got any sleep and woke up feeling groggy and irritated. Just before she could curse the sun for being so bright, a familiar growl snapped her awake like water splashing into her face. She bolted upright in her sleeping bag only to see Inuyasha placing his hand on the hilt of Tessaiga and glaring across the way at his older, half-brother.

The inu-daiyoukai's golden eyes narrowed at his brother, his stoic expression of ice breaking slightly to reveal annoyance. The long silver hair he had flowed about his elegant styled clothing and puffed out mokomoko-sama. The wind also managed to ruffle the armless sleeve that lazily rested against the youkai's left side. "Have you any new information on the whereabouts of Naraku?" he coldly demanded, getting straight to the point. He was always one to be just as blunt as his sibling.

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted, his hand tightening around the hilt of his blade. "Even if I did, what makes you think I'd tell you?" Honestly, was his brother that stupid to believe that he would give out valuable information to a person who constantly tried to kill him whenever he saw him?

Kagome quickly scrambled to her feet and grabbed her weapons, running up to join her friends who were already dressed and ready for possible battle. "Why is Sesshoumaru here?" she whispered to Sango. It was not like him to go to Inuyasha for information.

"Your guess is as good as mine…" the taijiya trailed off.

The miko suppressed the urge to groan. With so much already going on, this was the last thing she needed to deal with! Was it so much to hope that Inuyasha would not try to get himself killed once in a while?

Sesshoumaru's glare intensified, getting even more irked. "So I take it that you're just as lost as ever?" he snorted.

Inuyasha let out another irritated growl. The daiyoukai always knew how to get under his skin. "I'm not the one coming to my _hanyou brother _for information, am I?" he snapped back. He placed emphasis on those words because Sesshoumaru always enjoyed calling Inuyasha out on his so-called "pathetic" species.

Sesshoumaru shook his head slightly, knowing that he was here for another purpose than to just irritate his brother. As much as he _did _enjoy doing that. "What is your connection to that dead miko?" he growled out.

The hanyou outwardly twitched, his anger becoming more visible on his face. "Why do you suddenly want to know about Kikyou?" he snarled. It pissed him off just to hear an enemy mention the older miko.

"I caught her scent a few days ago and noticed that she reeked of Naraku," the daiyoukai explained in as simple terms as he could manage. "What is her connection to him?"

Kagome sucked in a breath, her heart clenching at the sight of Inuyasha's furious countenance. The fact that she knew of Kikyou's past relationship to Onigumo did not help matters much either.

Miroku idly tilted his face over to glance at the younger woman and withheld a sigh at her expected outward reaction. However, he paused to notice that her eyes momentarily flashed with what seemed to be _sympathy_. Why would Kagome suddenly feel the need to be sympathetic towards the hanyou who constantly left her to go see Kikyou on his own?

"I thought you already knew about how me and her were betrayed by Naraku due to him wanting the Shikon no Tama she guarded," Inuyasha remarked through gritted teeth, trying to keep his anger from flaring up completely.

"Don't take me for a fool, Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru snapped, his own temper momentarily exposing itself on his face. "Anyone from leagues around knows about that story by now." He suppressed the urge to growl at his idiotic brother. "I want to know why she would willingly go to where he was located and not come out in ashes."

The hanyou felt as if he were just punched in the gut upon hearing the question. He could not help but think back to what Naraku and Kikyou had done the last time they were alone together. Even though he knew that it was not Kikyou's fault, it still sent chills of revulsion up his spine.

The daiyoukai snorted after Inuyasha froze up in silence. "So you don't even know, yourself," he concluded. "I should have known better than to expect answers out of you."

Even though Sesshoumaru was just speaking his honest opinion, the way he spoke only seemed to come out as more insults towards the hanyou. "…Leave," Inuyasha finally spoke in a quiet tone, his hand beginning to pull on the hilt of Tessaiga. His eyes hardened into those of molten rage. His snarls grew louder. "Or I'll make you leave myself!" It was then that he pulled out his sword for added emphasis, pointing the large fang towards the daiyoukai.

Sesshoumaru originally had no real interest in fighting the hanyou, but in the instance he saw the sword pointed towards him, he felt his annoyance go into an all time high. Keeping his mask frozen in place, he only appeared disinterested as he pulled out Toukijin and waited for the inevitable. "Do you truly think that you can defeat me, little brother?" he taunted in a way that a sibling would mock another. A small, almost unseen smirk spread on his lips, knowing that it would further bait his brother.

"I've had it with your damn words!" Inuyasha declared, his anger finally getting the better of him as he charged forward with his sword. He let out a grunt as his blade clashed against Toukijin, feeling the electric-like energy surging into the fang and nearly pushing his feet back.

The daiyoukai's smirk only continued to widen. "Why are you so upset, Inuyasha?" he pressed. "I thought you had ties to the miko over there…" He was referring to Kagome. "Merely bringing up the dead miko in conversation crosses the line with you."

"Shut the hell up!" Inuyasha spat, finally pushing his feet off of the ground so that he could jump back away from his brother. He concentrated his energy to charge Tessaiga up for an attack. He would have easily launched it if it was not for the sudden interference of a magenta-glowing arrow landing in the ground in between the feuding relatives.

Immediately figuring out who launched it, the two turned to glare at Kagome.

The miko's irritation pushed out any type of fear that she would have otherwise felt from a glower from Sesshoumaru. "Both of you! Stop it!" she yelled, moving onto the battlefield. "We have much bigger problems to deal with right now! The last thing we need is to have you two trying to kill each other again!"

Sesshoumaru's anger would have piqued if his interest had not done so first. "… 'Much bigger problems'?" he echoed. "Enlighten me, miko."

Kagome sucked in a deep breath, knowing that Inuyasha would be annoyed with her for what she was about to do. "Kikyou went to Naraku in an failed attempt to destroy him. She did enough damage to make him move locations from his castle," she revealed.

Finally hearing something of value, Sesshoumaru sheathed Toukijin and turned on his heel. "Then I have no more business here," he stated before beginning to walk away from the group.

Inuyasha's eye twitched, even more pissed that the daiyoukai did not even give him acknowledgment before leaving. Sheathing Tessaiga into its scabbard, he glared back over at the miko who had just gave out information to who he considered one of his most threatening enemies. "Why the hell did you do that for?" he raged.

The miko suppressed a growl that wanted to be let out. Her eyes narrowed back at Inuyasha, not appearing the least bit intimidated by the hanyou's temper. "Why would you be so stubborn about information like that? He's after Naraku, too, you know!" she snapped back. "Honestly, with Naraku this active around you and Kikyou, the last thing we need is you to end up with a hole through your gut again!"

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted, crossing his arms into his haori sleeves in a pouting manner. "What makes you think I'd let him do that to me?"

The rest of the group sighed behind the pair, knowing that they would have to step in.

"Inuyasha," Miroku broke in with his usual calm tone. "Regardless of what was to happen in that battle, Kagome-sama has a point."

"If Naraku found out that you got injured, he would have easily used that chance to go after you or Kikyou," Sango added.

Starting to see that his friends were right yet again, Inuyasha let out a growl of irritation. He hated it whenever he lost an argument and while he was around his friends, it happened quite often.

Kagome sighed. "I'm sorry I got in the way of your fight, but I was only doing what I thought was best for you…"

Willing his temper to go from boiling point to a simmer, the hanyou let out a loud huff. "…I know…" he mumbled in a defeated tone. Staring down the dirt path, he got the sudden urge to be alone. "You guys go back to Kaede-baa-baa's place," he instructed. "I'll be there later."

The miko's eyes widened in slight alarm. "…Are you sure?" she pressed.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, already knowing what was on Kagome's mind. "I can take care of myself, ya know! I'm not a weak human!"

"…Okay…" Kagome replied in a hesitant voice. "If you're sure…" Reluctantly, she then joined the others in packing up their belongings before turning to notice Inuyasha walking off into the forest.

"Geez, what's with him, lately?" Shippou piped up after jumping onto the miko's shoulder. "Does he even consider your feelings when he gets angry over someone bringing up Kikyou?"

Kagome let out a sigh, making the kitsune tense up and debate leaving his perch. "Leave him be, Shippou-chan…" she murmured sullenly. "I don't blame him for being upset about what Naraku did to Kikyou…"

Sango frowned, noticing the miko's crestfallen countenance. "Inuyasha's being stupid like usual…" she huffed under her breath as she waited for Kirara to transform into her larger form.

"Since when is that news to us?" Miroku added from beside the taijiya. He shook his head with a sigh. "I understand Inuyasha's frustration, but he could at least be a little bit more mindful of Kagome-sama…"

"Um… guys…" Kagome trailed off, her voice suddenly ringing out from behind them. "Could you not talk about this right now?"

Chills ran up Sango and Miroku's spines once they realized that the miko had overheard their conversation. "O-okay!" they both stuttered out in nervous voices.

The miko nearly rolled her eyes. "You don't have to react like that every time I say something to you," she responded as she and Shippou got onto Kirara's back.

Once Sango moved in front of the younger woman and urged the nekomata to take to the air, the monk took to a fast-paced run beneath them.

Kagome let out another depressed breath as she held onto Sango. Why did Kikyou have to have a past with Onigumo?

* * *

The group returned to Musashi's Domain by the middle of the afternoon and were back to sitting around the fire pit in Kaede's hut.

Kagome was mildly worried about how Inuyasha had not returned but pushed such concerns to the back of her mind. She had more pressing issues to deal with at the moment. Glancing over at the elder sister of the dead miko, she watched her prepare the fire for the night's meal.

Even though the aging miko had a black eye-patch covering her right eye, it did not slow down her work ethic in the slightest. She was clad in the familiar red and white miko attire that rustled as she moved. "Did you find out anything new on Naraku's whereabouts?" she asked, finally sitting back as the fire started to build up.

The younger miko cleared her throat nervously. "Actually… I wanted to talk to you about something concerning Naraku and Kikyou…" she began.

Kaede bristled in the slightest, her interest piquing at the mention of her sister. "What of my elder sister?" she pressed.

It was then that Kagome glanced back at the others. "…I'd actually want to speak to her alone, if you don't mind," she admitted quietly. Her brown eyes revealed how stern she felt about what topic she was preparing to discuss.

Miroku immediately picked up on this hint and rose to his feet. Wanting to alleviate the tension that began to suffocate the room, he flashed a grin. "Well, then, I'll just go spend some much needed time with the village women!" he chirped as he grabbed a hold of his shakujou. "I'm sure they've missed me since I left!"

The taijiya's eye twitched with instantaneous irritation as she stood up with Kirara and Shippou in tow behind her. Lifting Hiraikotsu onto her back, she scoffed. "I think I'm going to go with you to protect the village women _from_ you."

The monk let out a nervous laugh as he lifted the hut flap. "S-surely you don't think I'd be endangering them, right, my dear Sango?" he stuttered out as if he were just caught with his hand in the cookie jar before dinner.

"Don't 'dear Sango' me, you perverted monk!" Sango snapped as she pushed him out of the hut.

Kagome rolled her eyes at the pair's usual antics but was mildly thankful for Miroku's behavior. It was enough to distract her from her problems for a few moments.

"What did you want to speak to me about, Kagome?" Kaede urged, figuring out that the topic was important if they had to be alone to discuss it.

"Well… it has to do with those school books I've been looking through…" Kagome began, her hands already twisting into her skirt out of anxiety. "It has everyone's names in it, including Kikyou."

The elder miko was mildly surprised by this, but already knew a little bit about the young woman's other world. "What did it say about my sister?"

"…It said that she was with someone else before Inuyasha…" Kagome began before sucking in a deep breath. "…And that someone was none other than _Onigumo_."

Kaede's one eye widened in shock, feeling as if someone had pierced through her stomach with a knife. "…H-how…?" she gasped out, unable to form a sentence due to surprise.

The young miko's hands tightened into fists in her lap. "Judging by your reaction… I'd guess that the book was telling the truth…"

The old woman fell silent for a few moments, trying hard to gather her wits back together. Once she knew that she could speak without breaking down, she slowly nodded her head. "…It is true that Kikyou-onee-sama once loved Onigumo…" Her voice dropped into a low murmur as if she were speaking about a top level government secret. "…But it had long since went away before she even met Inuyasha…"

Kagome felt relief at hearing such news. The last thing she needed to hear was that Kikyou had cheated on the hanyou. "…How…how much did Kikyou care for Onigumo?" Her throat went dry as she spoke. She felt as if she were trespassing onto a best kept secret she had no business talking about.

Kaede frowned, her head hanging slightly. "She cared for him very deeply…" She paused, recalling past events with the couple. "…He was surely her first love. Kikyou-onee-sama would speak to him every day with such a large smile on her face. They would even grow sad whenever she had to leave to take care of matters in other villages." She sighed. "…She had such a happy glow on her face whenever she was with him. It was similar to the same expression she wore whenever she was with Inuyasha in life."

The young miko experienced a pang in her heart when she heard Kaede's last sentence. She then had to mentally scold herself. It should not have been any surprise that Kikyou and Inuyasha were deeply in love those fifty years ago. "…Then…what happened to them? Why did Kikyou and Onigumo break apart if they were so much in love?" These questions above all else bothered her the most.

Kaede gave a bitter smile. "…Though it might be hard for you to believe, before Onigumo had been burned, he was a kind and giving man. Even though Kikyou-onee-sama knew that he was a bandit, she still took him in because she felt guilt for harming him. And at first, he was bitter for living in such a peaceful setting as opposed to his former life, but quickly grew used to it because he fell in love with my sister…"

The truth Kaede spoke surprised Kagome. It truly was such a forbidden romance! "…So, do you think she felt some tie to him due to how his life was?" she questioned. "I mean… I don't know much about either of them, but surely something would have drawn them together."

The older miko nodded her head. "…Kikyou-onee-sama hadn't told me much about it, but I know that she felt for his plight to discard his former identity as a bandit." Her fists then tightened. "That was…until he _betrayed _her…"

Kagome sucked in a gasp. Something told her to be surprised at this despite how she previously knew the man to be a corrupted, burned bandit who lusted for the Shikon no Tama. "…W-why would he do that if he loved her?"

Kaede shook her head. "I honestly don't know myself. All I know was that Kikyou-onee-sama had caught him with his old group of bandits, laughing with a new woman at his side."

Despite how she knew that Kaede had no reason to lie, Kagome felt a knot begin to weave itself in her stomach. Something was not right with this story. What motive would Onigumo have to betray Kikyou in such a way if they loved each other so much?

"…My sister was devastated… She did not even have the luxury to properly mourn her broken heart due to how she had protect the village," Kaede murmured in a saddened tone. "Whenever I looked into her eyes, I saw how _broken_ she truly was." She then forced a small smile. "…I truly believe that if she hadn't met Inuyasha when she did, she would have died from the heartbreak…"

Kagome's eyes widened. Was it that bad? Despite her rocky relationship with her previous incarnate, she could not help but feel sympathy for her. "…That must have been horrible for her…" she murmured, suddenly feeling small tears prick the back of her eyes. "…How could Onigumo have done something that stupid?" She then shook her head. "…She didn't even have the proper time to get over the break up… How sad…"

Kaede noticed how close to tears the young woman was and widened her smile. "…You truly are a remarkable child," she commented. "To want to shed tears for her…"

The young miko sniffled, sucking up the urge to cry. "…I-It's just so tragic," she admitted. "And once she finally fell in love with Inuyasha, Onigumo became Naraku and ripped her heart apart again! How could you not feel for her?"

The old woman nodded her head slowly. She allowed silence to fall over them for a few more moments before asking, "Now that you know about this… what will you do?"

Kagome's lips twitched into a deep frown. "…What _can _I do about it?" she remarked in a frustrated voice. "…It's not like I can tell Inuyasha. I can't even begin to contemplate what he would do with the information!"

Kaede sighed, knowing that the young woman was right. "It _would _be best not to speak of it with him," she agreed, experiencing first-hand how rash the hanyou could be. She then blinked. "How did you know that she never told Inuyasha?"

The miko snorted. "If Inuyasha knew, I think he'd be much more on edge every time Naraku interacted with Kikyou. Not to mention, I think he would have eventually told us about it…"

"Ah…" the elder miko remarked. "I suppose that makes sense…" Letting out a breath, she questioned, "Is that all of the questions you have for me?"

Kagome nodded before managing a smile. "Thank you for talking to me about this, Kaede-baa-chan."

Kaede returned the smile. "…I just hope that the monk doesn't return with too many bruises," she half-joked.

The miko let out a small laugh. "I wouldn't be surprised if Sango-chan returns, dragging his unconscious body in behind her."

* * *

Unnoticed to the two women inside, the shadow of a hand ghosted over the hut flap before falling away. The hand then clenched before moving back into place against its owner's body. It was then that the person took off into a frantic sprint away from the village.

"…Kikyou was…with Onigumo _before_ me?"

The hand belonged to none other than Inuyasha who had returned early in the evening. He was prepared to walk into the hut like he usually did, but stopped dead in his tracks when he overheard Kagome's conversation with Kaede. Not even able to fully process the talk in his mind, Inuyasha's first instinct was to run.

"…Why didn't I know about this?" he growled, feeling his claws digging into his palms until they bled. "Dammit!"

All he knew now was that he needed to find Kikyou, and fast.

* * *

A/N: Poor Inuyasha… I just never give him a break in this fic, do I? I'm sorry for the cliff-hanger! I just thought it was the perfect spot for an ending.

I also apologize for the obvious lack of Naraku and Kikyou action. I promise that there will be plenty of it in the next chapter! I just thought this chapter needed a bit more digging for Kikyou and Onigumo's past.

A few translation notes… Inuyasha calls Kaede "Kaede-baa-baa" in a rude way as if to say "that old hag, Kaede." Kaede also calls Kikyou "Kikyou-onee-sama" as a respected way of addressing an elder sister. Also, Kagome's way of calling Kaede "Kaede-baa-chan" is the equivalent of calling her "grandma Kaede." I hope that helps!

Please review!

Ja ne!


	7. Captured

**Disclaimer:**

Turtlequeen2: I'm back!

Inuyasha: …I hate you.

Turtlequeen2: Oh? You're still mad about what I revealed in the last chapter?

Inuyasha: Keh! Of course I am!

Kikyou: -sighs- You know, the more you argue with her, the more miserable she might make you in the future.

Inuyasha: -eyes widen- You wouldn't!

Turtlequeen2: -snickers- I would!

Anyways! I thank the following reviewer: katana sohma-demon girl!

I don't own Inuyasha, only Rumiko Takahashi does!

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**Chapter 6**

**Captured**

Kikyou's eyes narrowed as she released the purification arrow from her bow. The glowing magenta light that started at the tip of the arrowhead soon consumed the entire arrow and sailed towards its target which happened to be a measly carrion crow that was pestering her.

After watching the crow dissipate into an explosion of ash, the miko lowered her bow and continued to walk forward on the dirt path. However, it did not take long before she stopped due to how her shinidaimachuu retreated further back behind her. "What…?" she trailed off at their odd movements before her senses picked up on a familiar energy that moved towards her at a fierce pace.

It was not long before she stood several feet away from her old hanyou lover who glared at her with such intensity that she could not help but inwardly quake. Her eyes widened slightly, but that was all the emotion she would allow to expose itself onto her cold façade. "…Inuyasha…" Something in her gut told her that she would not like the reason he sought her out for.

"…Why didn't you tell me, Kikyou?" Inuyasha began, his claws digging even more into the palms of his hands. He took a step towards her. "…You and _Onigumo_?"

Now Kikyou's façade immediately shattered as her already white complexion paled even more so. It was as if the wind had been knocked right out of her. "…W-what do you mean?" she questioned, already fearing the worst.

The sudden change in her emotions proved to the hanyou that Kagome's words were true. "Dammit!" he growled. "…So it's true! You had a past relationship with him!"

Willing herself to recover from the shocking blow, her eyes narrowed. "Why is my past affairs any of your concern, Inuyasha?" she demanded in a colder voice than she intended. "It's not as if I have betrayed you in any way during our time together."

"The hell it isn't my concern!" Inuyasha snapped, moving closer. He noticed how Kikyou continued to inch herself away from him with every step he took. Once she found herself caught against a tree, the undead miko was trapped like a mouse. "Onigumo is the reason Naraku was created in the first fucking place! How the hell do I know that Onigumo wasn't completely after the Jewel?"

Kikyou found herself alarmed by the heat of Inuyasha's anger. Never before had she seen him so livid towards her. It was almost frightening. She could not stand the fire in the hanyou's eyes and so averted her head from him. "What is that supposed to mean?" she quietly questioned despite already knowing what he would say next.

"What if Onigumo wasn't just after the Jewel? He probably wanted _you _back and thought the Shikon no Tama could have been his way to getting out of that damn cave!" Inuyasha snapped. A low growl tore through his throat at the mere thought of it. "If that's the case… then your past relationship with him would be one of the reasons why he made us betray each other!"

Since when did Inuyasha get so sharp? Kikyou idly pondered this as she listened to him rant. Perhaps it was a large jump to conclusions, but it was a very good jump at that. "…So you believe that Onigumo's heart made Naraku jealous of us?" she concluded for him.

"It's possible!" Inuyasha snarled. "Why didn't you even tell me that you were harboring him in the cave those fifty years back?"

Kikyou's eyes hardened, turning her head back to glare at the hanyou. "Even if I had told you that, what would you have done?" Her words were as sharp as a knife, cutting directly through the dark mass of anger that surrounded the young man. "Neither of us could have ever predicted that Onigumo would have obtained that much power. And at the time, my heart belonged to you. I only took care of him out of pity."

The hanyou found himself calming slightly, knowing that she had a few good points. "Do you know how I feel right now?" he began in a hushed tone. "To know that my first love had once been in a relationship with a man who is now our enemy?"

The miko found words escaping her lips before she could hold them in. "…Onigumo is not our enemy. Naraku is."

"What? So now you're _defending_ him?" Inuyasha barked back.

Kikyou's eyes narrowed even more. "I never implied anything of the sort." A snort escaped her before a cold smirk lined her lips. "…Why does it bother you so much, Inuyasha? Did you believe that you were my first and only love? That my heart was always so pure and innocent even as you took it?" A small, bitter laugh escaped her. "I enjoyed it when you believed in such a fantasy…"

The hanyou's eyes widened, his rage shattered in an instant. It was as if the miko had thrown a vase of emotion up against the wall just to watch it crumble in shards towards the ground. "K-Kikyou…!" he gasped. He looked absolutely flabbergasted like she had just slapped him.

The undead miko's smirk widened slightly at his reaction. "So I was right…" Calming herself, she shook her head. "…It's not that I didn't want you to find out…" she began. "I didn't want _anyone _to find out."

Still trying to recover from the harsh blow that Kikyou had just dealt him, Inuyasha only blinked in confusion. "…What do you mean?"

Kikyou let out a small sigh. "Onigumo _betrayed _me, Inuyasha…" she murmured quietly, her eyes momentarily reflecting sadness. "After that… I did many things that I wasn't proud of in order to make sure that no one could ever know of my relationship to him." She shook her head again. "…I just wanted so badly to forget about him so that I could move on with my life."

Inuyasha did not know what to think upon hearing such words from his old lover. The sadness he saw in her eyes tore at his heart. He realized that despite it being so long ago, the heartbreak she experienced with Onigumo was something she had never recovered from. "…Kikyou…" he whispered, his bangs suddenly covering his eyes. "…Though I don't question that you loved me, I was never a replacement for him, right?"

The undead miko's eyes widened again. She found herself lifting her hand up to cup his cheek. "Of course not, Inuyasha!" she gasped quietly. "If it wasn't for you…I don't think I would have even lived up until the time I died…" She flashed him another sad smile. "…You shouldn't ask such cruel questions… That seems more like words my reincarnation might ask you one day…"

Now it was Inuyasha's turn to be surprised again. Kagome. Ever since he ran off, the younger woman never even crossed his mind. Momentary remorse flashed on his face, preventing him from raising his hand up to settle over Kikyou's. He recalled Kagome asking something similar earlier on in their travels together. Now he finally knew what it felt like to question his worth towards the person he cared about. It hurt worse than what proper words could even begin to describe.

Kikyou pulled her hand away from Inuyasha's cheek, seeing the guilt written all over his face. "You care deeply for her, don't you?" she probed, her eyes reflecting sorrow.

Unable to lie to her, Inuyasha nodded his head. "I do…"

"Then perhaps you should try to let go of your past…" As much as the older woman wanted to not say those words, she knew that the hanyou would eventually have to move on someday. It was foolish of her to continue hoping for a life that had already slipped through her fingers so long ago.

Inuyasha's eyes widened, feeling the familiar pain tug at his heart once more. "What?" he breathed out. "I'm not going to stop protecting you, Kikyou!"

Kikyou shook her head. "You misunderstand me, Inuyasha…" She would have gladly said more, but immediately stopped when she sensed a familiar dark jyaki entering the area. Moving herself away from the hanyou, her eyes hardened as she grabbed a hold of her bow and notched and arrow into it.

Also catching the familiar scent, Inuyasha let out a low growl and grabbed the hilt of Tessaiga. "Show yourself, Naraku!" he commanded.

Dark laughter echoed throughout the forest, seeming to come from every angle. It sufficed as proof that the man was indeed nearby. "Such a _touching _conversation between old lovers…" the same voice taunted before Naraku appeared from a cloud of miasma above them. He wore a purple and blue patterned haori and hakama set instead of his usual baboon cloak. His exposed face revealed an amused sneer.

"Damn you!" Kikyou hissed, pulling back more on her bow string.

"So Inuyasha knows our dark secret…?" Naraku further jeered, enjoying the slow rising anger that began to show on the hanyou's face yet again. "Thank you for saving me the trouble of telling him myself…"

The miko released her arrow at that moment, sizzling through a barrier that Naraku had held up and purified the evil hanyou's arm off.

"My, my… You're so tense, Kikyou…" Naraku chuckled, not showing the pain his body felt as it began to reconstruct itself. "I actually wanted to talk to you about a few things but since you seem so unwilling, I'm glad that I've already made special arrangements for you…"

" 'Arrangements'?" Inuyasha echoed before realizing what Naraku meant. Pulling out Tessaiga in an instant, he snarled, "The hell you're taking her!"

"What do you want to speak to me about?" Kikyou demanded, already putting another arrow into place.

"Hmm…" Naraku trailed off. "How do I put this?" His countenance flashed with brief seriousness before going back to his trademark sneer. "…It's a matter that doesn't concern an outside audience."

Due to still trying to recover by the information he had recently heard, Inuyasha felt a pang in his chest when Naraku said those words. He tried to hide his true emotions but failed miserably.

Just as Kikyou was prepared to speak, another familiar youki was sensed before a wind blade struck the ground at Inuyasha's feet.

The hanyou barely had the time to dodge, the edge of the blade cutting into his right leg. "Fuck! Kagura!" he snarled, seeing her walking forward out of the shadows with her fan folded out.

The older woman momentarily took her eyes off of Naraku in order to make sure that the hanyou was alright.

It was a minor distraction, but it was all Naraku needed. With a grin, he sent forward his dark green tendrils and wrapped them tightly around Kikyou's torso.

"Kikyou!" Inuyasha shouted in alarm, quickly charging forward in an effect to slice away the tentacles. However, before he could reach his destination, more wind blades stuck into the ground in front of him, blocking his path.

"Shouldn't you be paying attention to the person who's attacking you?" the wind witch taunted with a smirk.

"Dammit! I don't have time for you, bitch!" Inuyasha growled, temporarily turning to face Kagura.

Kikyou let out a hiss of pain, the constricting of the tendrils made painful enough to make her drop her bow. "Curse you, Naraku…!" she hissed, preparing to purify the evil hanyou with her hands.

It was then that Naraku quickly retracted the tendrils so that Kikyou was at level to him and was a few feet off of the ground. The fast retraction was enough to enable him to wrap more of the tentacles around her arms to keep them immobilized.

Inuyasha glared up at Naraku and knew it was a risk to his own life, but took the gamble, jumping up and aiming for one of the tendrils that connected to Kikyou's body without giving concern to Kagura. Unfortunately for him, Tessaiga bounced off of the barrier that was sprung up around the two before a wind blade tore into his back, making his eyes widen due to shock and pain. He was unable to maintain his balance in the air and slammed into the ground with his stomach breaking the fall first. The hanyou let out a groan of agony, but moved to his feet, now knowing that Kagura had to be taken out before anything else could be accomplished.

Naraku let out an amused laugh, enjoying to see the inu-hanyou in pain. The smell of Inuyasha's blood almost became overwhelming since Kagura only continued to carve up the hanyou like a holiday roast. "I'll let you have your _fun_ with Kagura," he murmured before gathering up black masses of shouki around his barrier and disappearing out of sight with his prey in tow.

"Kikyou!" the hanyou cried out in vain, watching the two vanish into clouds of miasma despite knowing that the wind witch had yet to leave. Knowing that there was nothing he could do to track down Naraku at the moment, he whirled around and glared the incarnation, his sword at the ready. He chose to ignore his injuries even as he felt the blood drip from all of his wounds. "If you want a fight so damn much, you finally got your wish!" His gold eyes burned with intensity. He was definitely not one to be trifled with when he was angered enough.

Kagura sensed these surge of emotions from the hanyou and knew that enough was enough. "Heh, as much as I'd like to keep you entertained, I've got more important things to attend to!" she declared, tossing up the feather from her hair and jumping onto the large plume that resulted from it. She found herself relieved when Inuyasha did nothing to pursue her. Despite knowing that she was agile enough to give him a few direct blows, she knew it was nowhere near strong enough to kill him. She knew her own limits and knew that as long as Inuyasha had the Tessaiga, she was no match for him when he got serious.

As soon as the wind user took off, Inuyasha sheathed his blade and made a mad dash back to the village. Continuing to ignore his injuries, he never stopped until he was in the middle of the hut where everyone was gathered for dinner.

Kagome was currently eating from her bowl of rice when Inuyasha practically tore through the hut flap. Due to being worried about him, she was prepared to chew him out when she noticed the blood staining his haori. She shot up immediately, knocking over her bowl in the process. "Inuyasha!" she gasped, rushing to him. "W-what happened to you?"

Inuyasha let out a growl, clearly not emotionally stable enough to care about his own health at the moment. "Naraku kidnapped Kikyou!" he announced.

The hanyou was obviously not emotionally stable enough to consider Kagome's feelings either. As soon as the words left his mouth, the miko's heart constricted. Able to connect two and two together, she knew that he had gone off to see Kikyou again. Still, being as mature as she could be, she knew that now was not the time to get jealous. "What? How?" she demanded in a panic.

Noticing that the hanyou looked ready to bolt out of the hut at any minute and was expecting a following, Miroku stood up as well. He stifled his own sigh. "Inuyasha, please at least explain what happened to you and Kikyou-sama before expecting us to leave."

Everyone else in the hut nodded their heads in agreement.

Knowing that that was what it would have to take, Inuyasha let out a breath before his fists clenched. "I went to see Kikyou, but Naraku managed to find us. He said that he needed to speak with Kikyou about a few things and made Kagura fight me as a distraction in order to kidnap her," he grit out. Despite how he was upset about Kikyou's past relationship with Onigumo and how Kagome knew but did not tell him, the hanyou knew that now was not the time to bring it up.

Kagome's eyes remained wide. "We need to find Naraku!" she exclaimed, genuinely caring about the older miko's well being.

Kaede kept silent, worried about her sister's health. However, due to her recent conversation with Kagome, she could not help but wonder if Naraku's doing had anything to do with Onigumo.

"Wait!" Sango shouted despite already reaching for Hiraikotsu. "What about your injuries, Inuyasha? If you keep moving, you'll end up losing too much blood."

"Keh! I'll be fine!" the hanyou snorted. "They're just a few cuts. Nothing to get excited over."

Miroku let out a huff of breath, grabbing his staff. "Let's go, then."

It was then that the Inuyasha-tachi began their tiring mission to find Kikyou.

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Once Naraku returned to the castle with his "precious cargo," he carried her in his tentacles until they reached a vacant guest room. He then unceremoniously dropped her onto the matted green floor and retracted the vine-like appendages back into his body like the reeling back of a fish with a fishing pole.

Kikyou glared up at him with all of the hatred she could muster up. "Even without my arrows, I have enough power to cause you harm or do you not remember that?" she hissed, not minding the mild pain that came from being tied up in tendrils for a long period of time.

Naraku grinned down at her. "Of course I remember that, _dear_ Kikyou," he purred, his eyes gleaming as if he were a cat toying with a mouse. "However, you know as well as I that you cannot cause me harm unless you directly touch me. So long as you have no weapons to amplify your powers with, you are no threat to my life."

The miko glowered at her captor, rising to her feet so that she could be at eye level with him. "I can still let my way out of this castle, Naraku," she firmly stated, clearly having no intentions to stay.

It was then that the older man let out a loud laugh as if she had told him a hilarious joke. "Did you not remember what I said about 'special arrangements,' Kikyou?" he retorted. "As soon as we stepped foot into my castle, I put up an even stronger shouki barrier than usual. One step outside of these walls would easily dissolve your imitation body back into bones and graveyard soil."

"How…?" Kikyou trailed off, not knowing he was yet capable of such strength.

"Oh, you see, over the past few days I had been searching for the perfect type of youkai to absorb in order to increase the toxicity of my shouki…" Naraku explained before smirking. "Finally after a while, I came across a youkai that specializes in creating substances that dissolve human flesh with just mere moments of exposure…"

The miko's fists clenched at her sides. "I'm assuming that you want to keep me here as a person as opposed to a pile of bones, correct?" There was a hint of bitterness in her words.

Naraku almost grinned. "Oh, you're referring to your shinidaimachuu and your need for souls?" He already had it all figured out in his head and it showed on his face. "Don't worry about that… I'll drop the miasma level at certain times of the day so that _one _may enter unharmed and give you the 'nourishment' you need in order to sustain your 'life'." The words "nourishment" and "life" fell from his lips as a form of a taunt.

Kikyou tried hard to keep the anger from her face but was finding that she was failing miserably. "I will _not _tolerate being kept here as a prisoner!" she growled.

"Kikyou…" the evil hanyou began. "You're thinking much too negatively about this. Think of yourself as more of an _unwilling _guest… " He paused in thought for those last few words. "If you were a prisoner, I'd never give you a room of your own nor would worry about your state of health."

"I'm here against my will. That is reason enough to think myself as a prisoner," the miko pointed out. It killed her pride to realize that she was put in such a helpless situation. Due to her own carelessness, she was now her enemy's prey!

Naraku could not help but laugh again. He had not been this happy in months…_years_, even. The last time he had been this pleased with the outcome of his plans was when he cursed the monk's family with the kazaana. Just to see the venomous stare come from a helpless Kikyou was enough to make his day. "I doubt that I'll need to remind you that I have eyes all around this castle," he added once he calmed himself.

"I'm perfectly aware of that," the undead woman grit out. Knowing that remaining enraged would not help her situation, she stood in momentary silence. Thinking back to the day when Inuyasha prevented Naraku from harming her, she then forced her temper to cool down. "Naraku… Despite the fact that you will keep me here, I have no reason to fear you taking this life from me."

The dark hanyou paused in his mental celebration to raise his eyebrow. "Why do you assume that? I could just as easily strip you of your rationed soul."

"You may claim that you could, but you won't. My life has much more value to you when you can lock me inside of a cage rather than destroying me outright," Kikyou murmured. "The other day when you tried to attack me, you failed due to faltering."

Naraku almost frowned, knowing the conclusion that the woman was heading towards.

"It wasn't mere hesitation that I saw," the miko continued. "Something or some_one_ prohibited you from moving in order to finish the attack. If it was just mere hesitation, you would have better protected yourself from Inuyasha's aggression."

The dark hanyou now had a reason to frown. He should have known that Kikyou would have been the one to notice it before the others. "What are you driving at?" he demanded despite knowing her answer.

"Onigumo's will is growing stronger within you, isn't it?"

Naraku's eyes narrowed, hating to hear her say such words to him. "Do you think it's wise to pursue such a conversation with me while you're captive in my castle?" He knew that she had since figured out that Onigumo was a sore spot for him.

The undead woman almost scoffed, not saying such truths in order to purposely anger him. She was just deciding to bluntly inform him that she was well aware of what he could and could not do to her.

"Perhaps if I give you some sort of… _punishment_, you'll think differently of continuing to defy me?" the dark hanyou thought out loud.

Wanting to see if her suspicions were right, she allowed a haughty smirk to cross her cold lips. "Try it if you must, Naraku," she beckoned, standing in place.

Determined to prove to himself that he could overpower Onigumo's wishes, Naraku's left forearm morphed into a group of three tendrils and shot forward, aiming them towards Kikyou's right shoulder at a fast speed.

Mentally preparing herself for impact in the case that she could be proven wrong, Kikyou closed her eyes. However, once moments passed and she heard no crack of her skin, the miko cautiously opened her eyes only to find the tentacles being mere centimeters from her body. It was as if an invisible wall were placed between her and the appendages from how the groups of tendrils were all directed at a center spot in her shoulder but never could hit it no matter how much they moved around in place.

Kikyou's eyes widened slightly, mentally glad that her theory was proven correct. However, what brought her shock was not that. It was the look she saw on Naraku's face when her eyes shifted towards him.

Naraku's eyes flashed with what appeared to be pain as he tried his hardest to move his arm forward. His body pulsed violently, struggling hard against an invisible force that kept him locked firmly to the floor. The hanyou even dared to try moving his foot forward but felt as if weights were keeping him stuck in place. Little beads of sweat ran down his forehead as he panted. Even though he was not moving forward, it was obvious that he was trying with all of his might to try and harm Kikyou.

"Naraku, it's pointless," the miko murmured. "Stop your foolishness."

With his pride crumbling to his feet, the evil hanyou finally retracted his tentacles and let out a heavy breath. "…Damn…you…" he growled. Though Naraku was glaring at Kikyou, his rage was directed more towards an inward enemy.

_"Didn't I say that I wouldn't let you harm Kikyou?" _Onigumo snapped back at Naraku in his mind. _"The more resistance you put up, the more I'll push back." _

"…I _will _get you out of my body!" Naraku declared despite saying it out loud and in front of Kikyou.

The miko frowned in thought. "…So Onigumo even has gained a separate consciousness inside of you…"

The dark hanyou hated the fact that the miko had seen him being so weak due to Onigumo's interference. A low snarl escaped his throat out of frustration.

A sudden laugh escaped Kikyou's mouth in retaliation. "So it seems as if we are at a stalemate, Naraku," she remarked. "Since I have no arrows, I cannot channel my powers high enough to destroy your body. With Onigumo's heart within you, you cannot even touch me with the intent to harm me." An amused gleam went across her dark eyes. "I believe your plans to get me to do what you want have just backfired on you since you can no longer threaten me with death."

_"I can't believe you're foolish enough to bring her closer to us! My desires to protect Kikyou from you will only get stronger!" _Onigumo mocked back to the losing hanyou.

Unable to deal with such irritating developments at the moment, Naraku glowered at his captive. "You might have just won this round, Kikyou," he growled out. "But you surely won't get the last laugh." As he turned on his heel and excited the room, he realized that capturing Kikyou had only just made his plans all the more complicated.

Once she knew that Naraku was out of sight, Kikyou looked around her barren surroundings. The mats and walls matched a shady moss green. On the floor was a modest pallet with a wooden dresser and mirror placed to the right of it. Beside the dresser was a wooden stand with a carved silver depression in the center in order to store water. Despite knowing that Naraku would end up watching her from another area of the castle, Kikyou went to the open shoji door of her room and slid it shut.

She then walked over to her futon and sank to her knees in the center of it. A smile crossed her lips when she thought about the enraged look on Naraku's face. A single phrase escaped her.

"I will use Onigumo's will to my advantage."

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A/N: Wow, so much has happened in this chapter! I hope that was enough Kikyou and Naraku interaction to make up for the serious lack of it in the last chapter!

I'm sorry for the atypical "Naraku kidnaps -insert name here-" plot device but I felt that it was needed to move the plot along. I didn't feel the need to make Kikyou and Naraku continue to randomly meet up with each other with the risk of other characters interrupting their moments. But, I do promise to keep this story original and put my own twists on this!

Please review!

Ja ne!


	8. Confrontations

**Disclaimer: **

Turtlequeen2: I'm so sorry I took so long to put out this chapter! School is a bitch and so are writing slumps!

Kikyou: I do hope that you won't disappoint them with another long wait for the next chapter…

Turtlequeen2: -frowns- I'll try my best not to make you all wait that long again!

I thank the following reviewers: Anesther, Black Diamond07, ddddaaaae, Doctor Reaper, Kaiyosei, and SiheartFluffy!

I thank two YouTube friends Ikari and Cassie for helping me think up the ending for this chapter. I was stuck on it for the longest time!

I do not own Inuyasha; only Rumiko Takahashi has those rights.

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**Chapter 7**

**Confrontations**

After a good few hours of convincing Inuyasha that proper rest was beneficial and not a "waste of time," the group settled down for the first night since Kikyou was kidnapped. Kagome then got to work on fixing up Inuyasha's injuries before much more damage could be done. Once everyone gave their opinions on what their next moves should be and ate, the majority of the group settled down for the night.

However, two people remained awake due to the same anxieties.

While it was commonplace for Inuyasha to sit up in a tree branch and stay on watch for the entire night, it was not usual for Kagome to be wide awake at this particular time.

The miko sat up, huddling close to the fire with her sleeping bag wrapped around her body to keep her warm. Using the firelight as a replacement for electric illumination, she opened up her history books and began to read where she last left off.

_'Kikyou and Onigumo became nearly inseparable and eventually fell in love with one another. Theirs was a strong bond that dared to break through many social taboos. However, this bond was soon to be shattered by one fateful night when the miko returned from a trip to vanquish many youkai.' _

Kagome frowned in thought as she read over the text before tensing up suddenly. She sensed eyes on her back and experienced the chills run up her spine at such an intensity she felt. Now unable to concentrate, she rotated her head only to figure out the culprit only to find Inuyasha giving her an irritated glare from his faraway perch. She furrowed her eyebrows in thought. Why did he look so upset when he gazed at her? She did not remember doing anything in the daytime that could have sparked his irritation. Was he just taking his frustrations out on her? Now determined to find out, she placed a bookmark in her book and shut it, putting it back on her sleeping bag before getting to her feet and walking over to the bottom of the tree Inuyasha was reclining in.

Upon noticing Kagome staring up at him, Inuyasha stubbornly averted his face from her, crossing his arms into his oversized haori sleeves and letting out a childish snort. Aside from his own annoyances with her, he was now irritated at himself for not being able to keep his emotions hidden.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome began in a cautious tone, not yet wanting to spark a fight that would eventually wake up their sleeping friends. "Is there something on your mind?"

"Keh!" the hanyou scoffed, still not looking down at her. "You mean _besides _the fact that Kikyou's being held captive by Naraku?"

The miko shook her head, mentally smacking herself for asking such an obvious question. "No, I didn't mean that," she explained. "Just now, you were glaring at me like I did something wrong to you. And even _now_ you're not looking at me." She frowned, disliking it whenever he was upset with her and she had no clue why. "What's going on?"

Despite knowing that Kagome was being genuinely concerned, Inuyasha took her words as another way of saying that avoiding her gaze meant that he was being childish. Wanting to disprove this thought, the hanyou jumped from the branch and landed swiftly on his feet beside her, keeping his arms crossed. His eyes narrowed slightly at hers, daring her to taunt him about being immature. "How long did you know about _that_, Kagome?" he suddenly demanded.

Kagome was taken aback, not sure of what he was referring to despite her stomach already twisting into knots at the thought of the worst possible thing he could have found out about. Deciding to play it safe, she asked, "W-what are you talking about, Inuyasha?"

His eyes narrowed even more, getting even more irked that she was still playing stupid with him. "Kikyou and _Onigumo_!" he snapped in a growl.

The miko's face paled, now knowing that the worst possible outcome came to pass. "I-Inuyasha… h-how did you…?" she gasped, unable to say much else.

"I came back early and overheard you talking to Kaede-baa-baa!" the hanyou snarled.

"…Y-you mean, you heard the _entire_ conversation?" Kagome squeaked out, her eyes widening.

"I heard about enough to realize that Kikyou and Onigumo had a past together!" Inuyasha snapped again. "That's why I ran off to see her earlier. I wanted to know if it was true!"

"Oh no!" she breathed out. "I-Inuyasha… I…" She was almost speechless, her eyes flashing with guilt due to not telling him soon enough. She never wanted him to find out that way!

"Why didn't you tell me, Kagome?" the hanyou growled. "Were you _ever _planning to tell me?"

Kagome took a step back away from him, unable to speak a coherent sentence. "I…I…" It was as if he had just slapped her!

Inuyasha felt his hands tighten into fists at his side. Sensing the spike of fear in her scent, he knew that getting angry at her would do them no good. It would either end with her in tears, his face in the dirt, or a mixture of both. Closing his eyes, he stilled himself and let out a deep breath in order to calm his burning temper. "Kagome…" he began in a calmer tone. "Just explain why you didn't tell me when you found out."

Seeing his attempt to slow his anger, the miko stopped moving away from him. She bowed her head, shielding the shame she showed in her face by using her bangs as a cover. "I…I didn't want to keep it a secret from you, Inuyasha…" she murmured quietly. "But…I didn't want to tell you either because I knew how you would react."

The hanyou's glare dissipated upon hearing her words. "So… you were trying to preserve my feelings?" he questioned.

The younger woman nodded her head slowly. "More or less…" Staring up at him, she frowned. "I'm sorry. I should have told you." She shook her head. "I just didn't want you to do irrational things… Maybe Onigumo wanted the Shikon no Tama for Kikyou, but that happened fifty years ago. The revenge you seek isn't for Onigumo; it's for Naraku."

Inuyasha nodded his head, now seeing why she kept him in the dark. "So, when did you find out?" he insisted, going back to his earlier question.

"I only found out about Onigumo last night," Kagome admitted. "But I knew that she had a past love for more than a few days now… That's why I wanted to see Kaede-baa-chan so badly. I wanted to talk to her about it."

The hanyou felt tempted to tear the books Kagome had into shreds for all of the trouble they were causing them now. However, he knew well enough that that would cause his face to be full of dirt. Letting out another huff of breath, he willed his irritation towards her to disappear. "Kagome…" he sighed. "…I'm sorry for snapping at you like that. I…"

Kagome cut him off, shaking her head. "It's fine, Inuyasha," she insisted with a forced smile. "You're going through a lot right now. I don't blame you."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, surprised by how forgiving she was. "It's not fine!" he replied in a persistent tone. "I jumped on you for something you did out of consideration for me. Just because Kikyou's missing doesn't mean I should lash out at you for it…"

Kagome let out a gasp at his rare moment of maturity. Since when had he figured out that snapping at others due to his foul moods was the wrong thing to do?

Noticing her shocked expression, Inuyasha let out a snort to alleviate the tension in the air. However, just as soon as it left, the thick atmosphere returned once he chose the exact moment to ponder over what he admitted about Kagome to Kikyou.

Sensing the possibility of words left unsaid, the miko blinked up at him expectantly. "Is there something else you want to tell me?"

"Uh…" Inuyasha murmured, caught off guard by her sudden question. He almost averted his head, thankful to the gods that she could not tell that he was slightly embarrassed due to his bad mental timing.

The miko's curiosity got the better of her, causing her eyes to narrow. "Inuyasha…" she said in the same voice she used before she usually scolded him.

"…I-it's nothing!" the hanyou insisted, trying his best to keep his lie unnoticed.

However, due to how his voice wavered, Kagome knew better. "Tell me what you were thinking!" she huffed. "I'll say _it_ if you don't spit it out!" she added, "it" being the word that she knew he hated the most.

Inuyasha's dog ears flattened against his head out of impulse, not wanting to feel the force of the enchanted beads at the moment. Well, honestly, he _never_ liked the sensation of it to begin with but that was besides the point. "…I was thinking about the time you asked me about you being just a jewel-shard detector to me…" he murmured, deciding to tell her half of the truth for the time being.

It was then that the miko went over to the tree trunk and sat down, patting the empty spot beside her as a silent invitation. "And…?" she pressed, waiting for him to answer.

Pulling Tessaiga's scabbard out of his sash, Inuyasha placed the sword against a spot on the trunk beside him before sitting down in a cross-legged fashion. He then looked over at her before replying, "Until today…I never realized how much that must have hurt you…"

Kagome's eyes widened. "W-what do you mean?" Did Kagura hit his head too hard or something? Since when was Inuyasha known for being "Mr. Sensitive"?

"I mean… even though we're been traveling together for such a long time, you actually questioned how much you meant to me…" Inuyasha explained. He frowned, guilt flashing over his countenance. "…I'm sorry about ever making you doubt how important you are to me."

Okay… The miko was _now _officially freaked out. The strangeness of this conversation with Inuyasha had finally gotten to her. Unable to help herself, she blurted out, "Two apologies in one night? Are you getting sick because of your loss of blood?"

Feeling annoyance at her bad timing at blurting out obvious observations, he lightly growled at her. Of course he knew that he was behaving oddly! He did not need her to point it out to him! "I'm fine!" he insisted. Letting out yet another calming breath, he added, "It's just… when I found out about her past relationship, I couldn't help but wonder if the worth I placed in Kikyou was the same amount she placed in me."

"Oh…" the miko murmured, now understanding what Inuyasha was driving at. "I see…" Though many things about their situations were different, she could now see how the hanyou was relating the hurt feelings they had. "So now that you've experienced similar pain, you're saying that you understand those feelings I had much better than before…" She said the words slowly as if working out a riddle in her head.

Inuyasha managed a simple nod.

Kagome could feel her heart beginning to beat hard against her chest. So what did that mean for her? Was he trying to say that he liked her even more? Deciding to play it off, she forced another smile in his direction. "Well, you don't have to feel bad about that anymore, Inuyasha. We're friends now so I know you see me as more than just a jewel-shard detector."

The hanyou almost frowned. "Friends"? Was that all they were? Such a simple word did not seem to fit appropriately with the complex feelings he held for her. Even so, unsure of what else to say, he eventually forced himself to nod. "…Yeah, we're friends. Close friends." He even allowed a rare, genuine smirk to cross his lips.

The miko's smile widened at his response despite inwardly feeling disappointed. She was stupid to think that he would ever outright declare his love for her. Not sure of what else to say, Kagome turned her head towards the stars and allowed silence to carry their conversation. This would have continued for several more minutes if not for the sudden thick cloth that was suddenly draped over her shoulders without warning. Kagome blinked, looking down to find that red material covered the shoulders and arms that was only previously protected from the cold by the light material of her sailor fuku. Glancing over at Inuyasha, she saw that his chest was only now covered by his white juban. "Inuyasha…" she trailed off with a light blush dusting her cheeks.

With unseen red on his own face, the hanyou forced out a snort. "Keh!" he remarked, thinking fast for an excuse. "We're not by the fire and the last thing we need is you getting sick again!"

Easily figuring out that Inuyasha only put his haori over her to keep her warm, she said nothing to the contrary and beamed at him. "Thank you," she murmured softly before leaning her head over to rest on his shoulder.

Inuyasha's blush only deepened, but he managed to keep his voice steady as he ordered, "And get some sleep. We need to get up before sunrise."

"I know…" Kagome remarked before yawning and closing her eyes. "Good night, Inuyasha."

There was a moment's pause before Inuyasha replied, " 'Night" and shifted himself so that his head could rest against her own.

It was the first sense of real peace he had gotten since this entire fiasco began.

* * *

Ever since Naraku had left Kikyou's room, the miko had been in silent meditation. Up until the sun rose and a knock fell across the wooden frame of the shoji door, the miko sat with her eyes closed in the center of the room.

Even before the interruption, she could clearly sense a demonic presence nearing her room. Opening her eyes, she glanced towards the door. "There is not much of a point in asking for permission to enter a prisoner's hold when you are a guard, correct?" she remarked pointedly.

A snort sounded from behind the door before the hand pushed it back, revealing the woman who was partially responsible for Kikyou's kidnapping in the first place.

As annoyed as she was for seeing her, the miko kept her peace and remained in place. "What does Naraku want of me?"

"Always so sharp, aren't you?" Kagura remarked in a sarcastic tone. Honestly, the undead woman's wit was part of the reason why the incarnation found her annoying in the first place. Shaking her head, she refocused herself. "Well, I was sent here to lead you to where he is." She allowed a sly smirk to form as she looked over the miko. "He's expecting you to keep him company today."

The thought of keeping Naraku entertained was almost enough to make Kikyou feel ill. Nevertheless, she rose to her feet and said nothing, deciding to follow the wind user through the death-infested corridors of the castle.

Kagura stopped when they were in front of a particular closed off room and slid open the door. "And here is Kikyou just like you asked for," she announced to Naraku in a sardonic manner.

Naraku was dressed in his normal layered kimono, wearing his princely disguise rather well as he remained sitting on his knees on one side of the table that was in the middle of the spacious study room. His red eyes narrowed slightly at his incarnation's tone but decided not to comment on it at the moment. "That will be all, Kagura," he remarked flippantly, dismissing her.

After Kikyou entered the room, the wind witch allowed relief to shine on her countenance before quickly shutting the door behind her and walking away. The less time she got to spend around Naraku, the better.

Without waiting for Naraku's invitation, Kikyou lowered herself into a sitting position across from the man. "You called for me?" she began, sounding more curious than anything else.

The dark hanyou could not help but raise his eyebrow at her calm demeanor. "I'm surprised that you came here without putting up any resistance…" he admitted.

The miko looked like she wanted to shrug. "I have nothing to fear from you so I see no purpose in putting up must resistance against you," she replied like she was speaking common sense to a simpleton.

Suppressing the annoyance he felt from her response, he murmured, "I suppose I should tell you why I decided to capture you." After receiving no reaction from her, he continued. "As the most dangerous threat to my life, I decided that you were too much of a risk to allow you to continue roaming about freely."

Kikyou almost scoffed at this explanation. "Why must you tell me such foolish things?" she asked in a rhetorical fashion. "I never hid myself from you nor tried to run from you. You could have easily found me if you wished to see me." In other words, his explanation was only a cover for another reason. "Admit it, Naraku…" She allowed the smallest of smirks to cross her lips. "You _wanted _to keep me for yourself because of Onigumo's influence. You believed that if I was here, it would calm your human blood. You just never expected your plan to backfire on you."

Naraku's eyes narrowed into venomous slits of rage, hating how right she was. Then again, Kikyou was always quick to come to the truth. It was beyond him why he kept getting surprised by her observations. "I assume this amuses you?" he growled, seeing no point in continuing to deny the truth.

The miko's smirk spread, proving that it did amuse her to some extent. "I pity you for your pathetic existence, Naraku."

Calming his irritation, he raised his eyebrow again. "I could say the same about you, Kikyou. You're merely a fragment of your previous life."

The miko's smirk fell away, nodding her head. "I will not argue that point," she murmured. Allowing for silence to settle between them for a few moments, she finally decided to question, "Why do you desire the Shikon no Tama so badly?" Even her eyes shown with inquiry as she looked at his face.

The evil hanyou was taken aback by such a question. He even gave her a confused expression before remarking, "I thought you already knew the answer to that question. I desire more power and the Shikon no Tama is the ultimate source of power."

Kikyou shook her head. "Though you say such words like a typical power-hungry beast, I find it hard to believe that it's that simple," she said softly. It was just she was trying to analyze him. "I know that you want to use it in order to become a full-youkai because you despise your human heart, but even so, your methods to obtain such power…"

"What are you driving at?" Naraku demanded, having a sinking feeling that he would not like her answer.

"When you made me and Inuyasha betray each other, I realized a simple fact in death," the undead woman began , thinking out loud. "Whoever gains possession of the jewel is doomed to misfortune." She frowned. "Since you are the cause of such misfortune in many others who had ever had a shard, are you not afraid of when the wheel of fate stops on you?"

Naraku's eyes narrowed. Was the woman referring to karma? How preposterous! "I do not fear such petty humanistic principles," he scoffed.

Kikyou gave an uncharacteristic snort. "Even if you do not, I know you _are _well aware of the risks of having the jewel in your hands," she shot back. "I know you have figured out my intents by now. Once you infuse the Shikon no Tama within yourself, you'd easily become a target for direct purification. You could also risk losing your mind and becoming a mindless youkai."

He knew that she had a few good points. It would be foolish for him to say that he had never considered these risks. "I believe the benefits greatly outweigh the risks," he finally said.

"Though, these risks are great and would cost you your life either way," Kikyou stated. "It's almost akin to working towards the ultimate fall of your own soul. I know that even _you _do not wish to die in such pathetic ways."

Faced with the dismal reality that she presented to him, Naraku could not help the small growl that came from his throat. He tried to hold it in, but the frustration easily made its way to his face. "Even though you assume all of these things, do you not simply wish to purify the jewel?" he snapped. He did not know why, but hearing her say all of these things to him only angered him.

The miko shook her head. "Purifying the Shikon no Tama will only prolong the problem. Another generation would have to deal with another wrathful demented spirit gaining possession of it and tainting it yet again," she murmured. "The only true solution is to eradicate the jewel from existence."

Naraku let out a laugh of disbelief. "Such naiveté, Kikyou!" he mocked. "I thought that only a selfless wish would make the jewel disappear. Even _you _failed in figuring out what that wish was."

Hiding her annoyance at his response, she continued. "Even if I have not figured out what such a wish is, it does not mean that Kagome won't soon find the answer for herself."

The hanyou's eyes narrowed. "You truly think that Kagome is capable of something that you cannot even do?"

Kikyou almost shrugged again. "She is part of a new generation, is she not? Even without my interference, she is also a threat to your life." She almost let out a bitter chuckle as she added, "She is _my _reincarnation, after all."

Naraku nearly snorted. "I see no point in you telling me this," he commented, speaking slowly as if he were improvising a grand speech on the spot. "So long as I have this jewel in my possession, I will not let it become eradicated." Thinking to himself once more, he added, "The jewel has been around for centuries, Kikyou. It will only continue to exist so long as there are those who lust for it."

Kikyou shook her head. "Despite how intelligent you claim to be, your blatant denial of events to come makes you seem childish," she observed in a blunt manner. "Would you rather I think you to be an ignorant child, Naraku?"

The dark hanyou almost growled at the insult. "Why do you care to tell me this in the first place, Kikyou?" he snapped. "Don't tell me that you wish to preserve my soul? Even for a miko, I doubt your heart is _that _forgiving."

The woman let out a short laugh of disbelief. "Don't mistake my motives," she advised. "There is no doubt that I despise you and wish to obliterate you." Calming herself, she quietly murmured, "I was just pointing out things that you should have already known. Is it a crime for me to ponder about it?"

So all of sudden questioning was because Kikyou was just curious? Some part of Naraku did not buy it for a moment. The way her voice sounded when she accused him of being a denier made her seem that she was only reminding him of the obvious because she did not wish to see him die in such a pathetic way. It was as if she _wanted _to prevent him from making some foolish mistake that would drive him to his death.

Noticing the various emotions cross over his eyes, Kikyou stood up. "Have I entertained you enough, Naraku?" she questioned in a sardonic tone. "If all you only called me here to lie to me about why you captured me, you've more than accomplished that." Without waiting for him to replied, she turned her back on him and made her way to the door.

Unseen by her was his smirk as he rose to his own feet. He did not seem insulted by her urgency to leave his presence. On the contrary, he appeared quite amused. "You're correct with your suspicions, Kikyou. I didn't call you here just to have such an _interesting_ discussion." By the way he said "interesting," it was obvious that the conversation both intrigued and annoyed him.

Before she could turn her head back to look back at him, Naraku was directly behind her and reached his hand out to grip tightly onto her left wrist. Her eyes widened as she struggled to tear her wrist from his grasp. "What are you doing? Release me!" she immediately hissed, hating whenever he placed his hands on her.

He smirked, keeping his grip tight like a coiled snake as he held her in place. "Isn't this interesting, Kikyou?" he taunted. "If I don't come at you with the intention to harm you, Onigumo allows me to touch you."

The miko froze up before her eyes narrowed. "…So your true objective was to test out this theory of yours… Of whether or not you could place your hands on me at all…" she thought out loud. She was irked by this new development since she was inwardly hoping that he would not be able to touch her at all. And a very small part of her grew _fearful _though she would never give him the satisfaction of showing it on her face. "If that was your only goal…" she began, turning her body around completely in order to glare at him. "…Why would you want me to come out of my room instead of coming to me directly? Was there any true need for you be so underhanded?"

Naraku chuckled, enjoying the irritated expression she wore. It seemed that he was able to get under her skin much more often than usual. He could not help but make it his hobby to anger her. "I suppose you may have a point, but it was much more interesting for me to see if you would come to me willingly…" he explained to her in a blunt tone of voice. "Does this worry you, Kikyou?" Still, his grip did not loosen.

Kikyou scoffed, keeping her pride up so as to hide the small fraction of fear she truly felt. "Why should I worry? I hardly see you as the type who would sink to the levels of a human bandit just because you can touch me. I also know that Onigumo would not allow you to do such things," she replied in an aloof tone. She at least hoped that Naraku would not be a man of such low class.

Despite her words, Naraku could sense that something with amiss with her emotions. Using her wrist, he tugged on her arm hard, drawing her close to his chest. With his smug expression in place, he used his other hand to take a tight grip of her chin, tilting her face up to meet his gaze. Bringing his lips mere inches from her own, he voice dropped into a low rumble. "I think you should remember this night well, Kikyou…" he began, growing more inwardly amused when she glowered defiantly at him. "Tonight, you remain safe from me only because of my own will; not of Onigumo's." His mouth lowered even more, nearly at the point of kissing her before he pulled back and released her arm.

Kikyou rubbed her sore wrist, feeling sure that the imitation body was surely cracked from his strong hold. She did not like this at all. In one moment, they went from a stalemate to a game of cat and mouse. At this stage in the game, she was the mouse and she did not enjoy being chased. She nearly bit down on her bottom lip out of impulse, hating how close his lips were to touching hers. Since he was physically stronger than she was, she has no way of stopping him. What was worse was him being self aware of such a fact. "…I _refuse _to play as your amusement, Naraku," she spat.

"I don't believe you have much say in the matter, _dear_ Kikyou," he taunted. "I _do _hope that you'll be able to sleep properly tonight." Of course his last sentence was a lie. He just enjoyed pressing her buttons a little more than he should.

Not having much else to say to him, Kikyou whirled around and strode out of the room with her head held high. She knew she had lost this round, but she was determined to not let him win the game.

Once she had left, he let out another laugh before pausing in his thoughts. Thinking back to their earlier conversation, he grew confused again. He knew what she told him was the truth so why did she bring it up? Was she mocking him or was there some hidden motive behind it? Try as she may to deny there being any significance in telling him, he knew that there was more to it than being "curious."

_"Naraku…What is your objective?" _Onigumo finally spoke after remaining quiet for so long. He did not sound happy. Now that he knew that he could not control Naraku whenever he wanted to, he was an angered spirit. _"I doubt that that display of affections was something you did out of mere enjoyment." _

Feeling generous due to being happy with his victory, Naraku decided to humor his human heart. "Do not mistake my motives, Onigumo. I still have every intention to _break _Kikyou…" he explained. "However, now that I know my of my limits, I believe some punishment is in order for you since you have interfered with my plans long enough."

_"Damn it!" _the man cursed in Naraku's mind. If his face was visible, the dark hanyou would surely have seen a hard glare directed towards him. _"I won't let you win! I'm not going to let you kill her!" _

A wicked grin cracked across Naraku's face as a thought came to mind. "So tell me, Onigumo…" he murmured. "…How would it make you feel if you found out that Kikyou was beginning to willingly trust in your worst enemy?"

The human soul growled. _"There's no way Kikyou would be so stupid as if to fall for your lies!" _

To this, the evil hanyou only laughed again. "I shall enjoy hearing your cries of despair when you see how easily Kikyou becomes caught by my web." He finally managed to find an crack of weakness in the miko and planned to make the gap much larger before going in for the final kill. "I will make sure that you and Inuyasha do not interfere with my plans."

Kikyou would become his one way or another. It was only a matter of time.

* * *

A/N: I hope you liked the end of this chapter! Naraku has a lot of tricks up his sleeve now!

Since Naraku is already thinking about trying to gain Kikyou's trust, you can be sure that there will be a lot more enjoyable tension between them.

Sorry it took so long for me to update this time around… So much has been going on for me… I'll try to make sure that the next chapter doesn't take as long to make.

Please review and don't kill me!

Ja ne!


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